Community Chat

[151949]

The discussion about the 911 memorial made me think - what makes a person a hero? Certainly the men and women who ran into those burning buildings 11 yers ago are undoubtably heros. Or the ones on the plane in Shanksville who lost their own lives attempting to stop the terrorists who had taken over the plane.Without them doing what they did who knows how many more lives may have been lost ? Certainly our wounded and dead from all wars are heros - and not just the ones who won medals. My dad got a Silver Star in WW11 but he was the first to say he was incerdibly stupid to do what he did to earn it - he jumped on top of a hand grenade to save the lives of others - fortunately , it was a semi dud and he was injured but not killed by it.Of course, in my eyes he was always a hero.

Yesterday on the news there was the funeral of a police officer. He died in a motorcycle accident in his off duty time. He was not wearing a helmet and he was speeding. But because he was a policeman they gave him a heros funeral - all the pomp and circumstance. I found it appaling that this man - who was setting a poor example - was given a heros funeral, just because he was a cop.

It seems now a days that everyone is a hero. Do we have so few examples of real bravery and heroism that we make anyone who even vaguely qualifies into a hero? This police officer got a bigger funeral than most soldiers who come back from Afganistan - and that really bothers me. My dad was a hero - for his funeral he had the 21 gun salute and the flag draped coffin any vet deserves to recieve. This policeman had a parade of other officers and officals plus the 21 gun salute and taps and flag draped coffin, and a big spread on the news. geez - Neil Armstrong wasn't as celebrated.