WHAT MAKES A HERO?

On this particular day, the 70^th anniversary of the Normandy invasion in World War II, there’s a lot of talk about heroes.  No one disagrees that the unbelievably courageous folks who participated in that move toward ending an horrific war were heroes, except perhaps for some of those same remarkable people still living, who often say, “Well, I’m no hero.”  We just saw such a person on TV.  He joined the military as a very young man from a small town in Texas, did his training, and jumped out of a plane in France on D-Day.  He did what he had to do, but refuses to regard himself as a hero, which, of course, he is.

So let’s talk about the definition of the word “hero”.  A hero can be defined as a very brave person, who shows great courage or character, or as somebody admired for special achievements, and those are valid definitions.  But courage can be defined as being very frightened and still doing what is needed.  So what about the very ordinary people from many parts of the world who gathered together and did their assigned jobs during WWII.  What about the ordinary people who are still doing their jobs in war zones during our current conflicts.  What about the ordinary people, many of them mothers, who are working two or three jobs to meet their responsibilities.   What about the brave folks in other parts of the world who are standing up for their beliefs against political systems they know are unfair.

What if the definition of “hero” is simply someone who knows what they need to do and shows up to do it.  If that’s the case, there are a lot more heroes around than we may realize.