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Tag(s): Celebrity; Congress; Convictions; Courage; Future; Heroes; Jessica Lynch; Mari Oye; Pat Tillman; People; (more...) People; Presidential Scholars; Rendition; Responsibility; School; Torture; Torture; Truth (less...)
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July 13, 2007 at 00:12:26

A Nation Of Heroes

by Todd Huffman, M.D. Page 1 of 2 page(s)

www.opednews.com

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In the aftermath of September 11th America became, to itself, a nation of heroes.

We bestowed the word amongst ourselves freely, as if the smallest of gestures – displaying patriotic placards and vehicular flags – were heroic. As if we imagined that a nation full of heroes would somehow be safer, more secure.

Six years on we still fling the word hero around amply, carelessly, in every direction. Every soldier is a hero, and every protestor. So too every insider who speaks out, years too late, and every journalist late just the same. All are heroes to someone, of course, but are they to be heroes to us all?

Our democratization of the word hero has amounted to a theft of its once lofty status, and has reduced it to but a shadow of its former self. A nation in which everyone is a hero sadly has no heroes. A nation in which all men were created equal has come to mistake this to mean that all men are equally heroic.

In the wake of several recent and true acts of heroism we would be wise to restore the word’s true meaning, and remind ourselves that most heroic endeavors are those unscripted and quietly performed.

Witness the courage displayed by once and future heroine Pfc. Jessica Lynch in her testimony to Congress in late April. “The American people are capable of determining their own ideals for heroes, and they don’t need to be told elaborate tales,” she told a House committee investigating incidences of wholly invented publicity disseminated by an administration adept at well-told and uplifting myths.

Truth matters for its own sake, of course, but it matters also because it is our only defense against the efforts of those who would exploit truth to serve their own ends. “The truth of war is not always easy to hear but it is always more heroic than the hype”, spoke this slight and shy young lady from West Virginia, who having proudly served and suffered for her country proudly served it once again by reminding it of the importance of truth.

Most of all, Private Lynch’s testimony was remarkable for the uncommon bravery that brought it forth, a bravery radiant from someone who has steadfastly refused to allow herself to be recreated into something she is not. How easy it would have been to simply have lived the lie, have basked in staged glory and have reaped its undeserved rewards. How many, when so tempted, would prove to be made with the same mettle?

Yes, Jessica, we are indeed capable of determining our own ideals of heroism, and you are a shining example.

Witness also former NFL player Pat Tillman, killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan during April of 2004. In the days following September 11th, rather than succumb to collective glorification and patriotic triumphalism, this man chose to forsake monetary riches, gained playing a game, in order to defend his country in the way he felt he best could. Whether or not you agree with what he saw as his duty, at least acknowledge the heroism in following his own clarion call to it.

Witness further the courage of a group of recent high school graduates, Presidential Scholars, so recognized for being “some of America’s most outstanding graduating high-school seniors”, as they were recently honored at the White House by President Bush.

After a few scripted words from the president, one of the students, Mari Oye, from Wellesley, Massachusetts, handed Mr. Bush a letter she had written, and which had been signed by more than a third of the students in attendance.

The letter read: “As members of the Presidential Scholars class of 2007, we have been told that we represent the best and brightest of our nation. Therefore, we believe we have a responsibility to voice our convictions. We do not want America to represent torture. We urge you to do all in your power to stop violations of the human rights of detainees, to cease illegal renditions, and to apply the Geneva Convention to all detainees, including those designated enemy combatants.”

The president read the letter, looked up, and said “America doesn’t torture people.” Mari squared up and bravely responded, “If you look specifically at what we said, we ask you to cease illegal renditions. Please remove your signing statement to the McCain anti-torture bill.”

Such heroism in ones so young offers a hope that America may one day once again be in good hands.

Witness finally the heroes who don’t make the news: the teacher who takes a struggling student and spurs her to excel; the tired housecleaner who gives what little of her free time to volunteer at the food bank; the attorney who could’ve made partner but instead makes a difference defending the defenseless – all shining examples of uncommon heroism missed in our societal haste to put the next talentless celebrity or tainted politician up on pedestal.

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Todd Huffman is a pediatrician and writer living in Eugene, Oregon. He is a regular contributor to many newspapers and publications throughout the Pacific Northwest.

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4 comments

A writer is a rogue goose. All other gees fly in a flock formation; every goose knows his place and time for honking. The rogue goose is undisciplined. He leaves the formation indiscriminately to have a look at it from aside. He roams back and forth, takes a peep at the leader, honks a little bit from behind, distracts everyone and writes on what he sees. Time passes and as he wants to return back to his place he discovers someone else there. Thus he either has to wait until they land for rest...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Mark SashineA writer is a rogue goose. All other gees fly in a flock formation; every goose knows his place and time for honking. The rogue goose is undisciplined. He leaves the formation indiscriminately to have a look at it from aside. He roams back and forth, takes a peep at the leader, honks a little bit from behind, distracts everyone and writes on what he sees. Time passes and as he wants to return back to his place he discovers someone else there. Thus he either has to wait until they land for rest...

to see more of bio, click on member name

It was a pleasure

to read this article and I would also like to add mine ( not to brag but relevant, please, see the link below and remove the space after http:)

http: //www.opednews.com/articles/life_a_mark_sas_070704_on_humans_and_divine.htm

In tha article 'On Humans and Divine' I list the stories about several intirinsically heroic events. The concept of heroism as it is stated by the official propaganda here is a concept of death. They are vultures. They like dead people, preferably with the appropriate sauce and it does not really matter to them what and where and how. They will call you a hero if they want to and on the next day they will call you something else. BTW, the true concept of the individual heroism si investigated closely in the perfect Chinese movie 'Hero' where not only the cinema is perfect but the idea too. Individual hero is always reluctant and always alone though self- confident and self- conscious. What that means is that the heroic characters are to be brought up, it is a great job. Of course, a blubbering dry drunk GW is as much a hero as a doornail. That's why he needs an illusion, the whole new universe, a Twilight Zone. That Zone was shatterred by those teenagers you have spoken about. Perfect heroes- the heroes of mind.

by Mark Sashine (50 articles, 19 quicklinks, 242 diaries, 3437 comments) on Friday, July 13, 2007 at 2:06:29 PM

Todd Huffman is a pediatrician and writer living in Eugene, Oregon. He is a regular contributor to many newspapers and publications throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Todd Huffman, M.D.Todd Huffman is a pediatrician and writer living in Eugene, Oregon. He is a regular contributor to many newspapers and publications throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Thanks

Thanks for the praise, and for the link. I enjoyed reading yours, as well, though I had some difficulty with the numerical organization of the piece. And I, too, enjoyed and admired the spirit (and the cinematography!) of the movie "Hero".

Some good quotes:

"Heroes are created by popular demand, sometimes out of the scantiest materials, or none at all." -Gerald Johnson

"At the boy's level, hero worship gravitates toward the doer of spectactular deeds; on the average adult level, toward the wielder of power; and in the eye of a more critical judgement, toward idealism and moral qualities." -Dixon Wechter

"True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost." -Arthur Ashe

by Todd Huffman, M.D. (80 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 109 comments) on Friday, July 13, 2007 at 2:44:36 PM

Playwright, screenwriter, instructor of both, divorced, one step-daughter, Vietnam War combat veteran (Army), politically liberal, deeply opposed to the Bush administration and their illegal, immoral, aggression in Iraq; opposed to international corporatism and very worried about the health of the planet.
AndreasPlaywright, screenwriter, instructor of both, divorced, one step-daughter, Vietnam War combat veteran (Army), politically liberal, deeply opposed to the Bush administration and their illegal, immoral, aggression in Iraq; opposed to international corporatism and very worried about the health of the planet.

Heroism

I, too, admire true heroes. I'm a Vietnam combat veteran and have watched with utter dismay the degradation of the role of the "Hero" in our culture by the overuse and misunderstanding of the word 'hero' itself. As a New Yorker and witness to 9/11 up close and personal, I cringed when every fireman and every policeman who was a victim was referred to as "a hero". Brave men and women, frail human beings, people just doing their jobs -- yes. But, heroes? Very very few, and we will generally never know who those few were. If any of those men and women had known that the towers were going to collapse and had still gone into them to rescue people, those would have been acts of heroism.

Soldiers aren't all heroes. All death in combat isn't heroism; it is usually a matter of bad luck, bad decisions, lousy odds, and/or simply doing one's job.

I commend the author for pointing out the current corruption of a formerly important designation for exceptional human behavior. Whether or not there can be any reclamation of the truth inside the word is moot in a culture where the latest winner of American Idol gets more coverage than those who are dying for ... us .. ? No! For Cheney's energy policy, Bush's fundamentalist grandiosity, and Rumsfeld's megalomania, and corporate oil's aggrandizement.

by Andreas (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments) on Friday, July 13, 2007 at 10:40:32 PM

Young retired yank of 59 living in the highlands o Scotland. Been out of the old country for 20 some years now. I'm with the Dali Lama, kindness is the only thing that will work. LOVE cycling on or off road. My wife is a wonderful girl from Manchester England.We're haven fun.
davyYoung retired yank of 59 living in the highlands o Scotland. Been out of the old country for 20 some years now. I'm with the Dali Lama, kindness is the only thing that will work. LOVE cycling on or off road. My wife is a wonderful girl from Manchester England.We're haven fun.

heroes

On the money. Reminds me of golf on tele, they now refer to Tiger Woods as, "The great man", because he can hit a ball, sheeeeesh,wish they would simply say "the great golfer". As an X pat it is quite something to watch america disappear under it's own, "piled higher and deeper". It's all starting to look pretty thin.

by davy (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 240 comments) on Saturday, July 14, 2007 at 3:09:33 AM