Heroic

The term heroic has taken a beating in the last few years.  A hero is not someone who does their duty.  A hero, to use the contexts of the Congressional Medal of Honour and the Victoria Cross, is:  Someone who exhibits selfless disregard to protect, save or bring from harms way those who are not able to save themselves, at extraordinary personal risk.

Most often, those heroic deeds, warranting our highest honours, are recognized posthumously.  Posthumously means, they were killed doing the heroic thing. 

Airman Andrew Mynarski, in WWII pushed comrades out of a burning Lancaster bomber, as it plummeted to earth, shot down over occupied Europe.  Mynarski ran out of gap between the planet and the plane but made sure everyone else got out first, helping the injured and wounded to bail out.  The Lancaster hit the earth, probably around 400 miles per hour.  Mynarski was buried in a #10 Envelope in Holland.  He was also awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry. 

Today, everyone who fights in a war, wears a police uniform or rides a fire truck for work is now a Hero.  Yes, PFC Jessica Lynch is a soldier.  Yes, she did her duty and fought to the last bullet before she was captured.  Yes, she was seriously injured and it is a testament to the inherent gallantry of soldiers that nobody ever gave up on her, including her.  Is she heroic? 

Compared to Mynarski, by the information we have about her capture and rescue to date, no.  Are the people who flew in, snatched her up, along with the dead in that hospital and got her out, heroic?  Quite possibly, yes. 

Was Normal Schwartzkopf a hero of the Gulf War V 1.0?  No, but he was a highly skilled planner, manager and leader of soldiers, just like General Tommy Franks is a highly skilled planner, manager and leader of soldiers.  I would suspect that both men would cringe if they were ever called heroes.

Overuse of the term hero has cheapened it.  Technically, I could be a hero, because I had a tremendous bowel movement this morning that felt like it came out sideways, causing pain and leaving me almost unconscious.  But, heroically, I read some more of the Lee Valley Tools catalogue, did the paperwork and went on with life.

A hero must accomplish something significantly larger than themselves that leaves others in awe at the sheer gallantry of their actions.  Use the term hero sparingly and it retains the value that it should have.