On Heroes and Heroism

[Turk 182]

On Heroes and Heroism

This morning the TV reported another local man, a boy, really, killed in Iraq. He was killed by a roadside bomb, the weapon of choice used by the “insurgents”. They said he was a hero, and this got me again thinking of how we cope with the deaths of our loved ones in this war.
The Dictionary defines a hero as: A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life.
The Bush administration, with its Orwellian use of language and secrecy to obscure the truth of any situation, has managed to infect the media with its own warped perception of reality.
When every soldier killed in this unholy war is labeled a hero, it is designed to make us feel better about this utter waste of life. After all, this person died defending his or her country, and even though we morn the death, we celebrate the myth of heroism.
This assumes that all these young men and women joined the service out of some inner patriotic flame that was kindled by the events of 9/11. But, of course, the truth is that many, if not most, were in the service before 9/11, and that many, especially those from poor, disadvantaged neighborhoods, were merely looking for a way out of poverty which military service would give them. Many of them were National Guard members who joined for a myriad of reasons, none of them having anything to do with heroic self-sacrifice. They were in Iraq because they were told to go. They were told the big lie about defending their country from those who attacked us. They were told they were heroes.
There is also another thing that happens when you are in the service. The psychology of military training is to break you down to the point that you are conditioned to obey without reflective or analytical thought. Much of this conditioning is done through fear and intimidation which works very well on young, unsophisticated minds.
The government makes it very clear in any number of ways that you should be more frightened of them then you are of the enemy. Up close, it’s your drill sergeant yelling in your face, but behind that is what the government can do to you and your family and your future life if you don’t do as you’re told.
The proof of this is in the number of men (boys) who fled to Canada to avoid the draft during the Viet Nam war. That the number was so relatively small (only a few thousand) speaks volumes about the fear your own country can instill in you. History has shown that most of these men were prepared to give up everything including friends, family, and future because they believed in their hearts that what was happening was wrong, not because they were afraid of dying. Some would say that they were heroes.
There is no doubt in my mind that many true acts of heroism occur each day in Iraq: Medics, doctors and nurses trying desperately to save lives and limbs under horrific circumstances; soldiers putting their lives on the line to save a buddy or some one they don’t even know are heroes in the real sense. If one were killed performing one of these acts, that person should be described as a hero. But there is nothing heroic about being blown to pieces by a roadside bomb. It is merely a monumentally sad and tragic event which is repeated over and over again every day in the chaos known as Iraq.
It is not my intention to denigrate or make little of any soldier’s death in Iraq, or Afghanistan, or wherever they may be fighting, but to merely point out how we allow language to deceive us into denying what we do not wish to face. After all, if all the more than fifty-eight thousand soldiers who died in Vietnam were called heroes, we might still be there fighting.

[lazer47]

1. Heroes are nothing more than ordinary people caught up in

an extraordinary situation, trying to persevere thru the moment, and in doing so, heroically save the day.

[Xipe Totec]

2. Opportunity - by Edward Rowland Sill

My take on heroism.

This I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream: —
There spread a cloud of dust along a plain;
And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged
A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords
Shocked upon swords and shields. A prince’s banner
Wavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by foes.

A craven hung along the battle’s edge,
And thought, “Had I a sword of keener steel —
That blue blade that the king’s son bears, — but this
Blunt thing!” — he snapt and flung it from his hand,
And lowering crept away and left the field.

Then came the king’s son, wounded, sore bestead,
And weaponless, and saw the broken sword,
Hilt-buried in the dry and trodden sand,
And ran and snatched it, and with battle-shout
Lifted afresh, he hewed his enemy down,
And saved a great cause that heroic day.

[TomInTib]

5. And that is pretty much how it works, X T.

I have the Navy Cross, and I will tell you right now that not one thing I did that day was planned more than a few seconds in advance.

If that.

[Xipe Totec]

6. Then, on bended knee, I salute you

You were tested in His crucible and found worthy.

We will never know when our turn comes, or if we will be equal to the test.

All we can do is try to be ready.

[TomInTib]

3. Well put, Turk182.

I have known my share of folks who performed heoic deeds.

And I will guarantee you that none of them were planned very far in advance of the real action.

They were regular guys doing regular stuff when the shit hit the fan.

And welcome to DU.

[cloudbase]

4. Reagan did this with the Challenger astronauts.

Victims of a bad decision, like those astronauts or the service men and women in Iran/Afghanistan, become heros. Maybe it's a way of assuaging feelings of guilt.