My nephew is serving in Iraq. Thus far he has not fallen victim to an improvised explosive device or been shot. To my knowledge he has not been the victim of any serious accident. I sincerely hope he will not be injured or killed and that he will soon return home unscathed and healthy, in body, mind and spirit.
To many people his service alone is deemed sufficient to call him a hero. I disagree.
I like him enlisted in the military at a time the United States was at war. I volunteered for the Marines in 1968 and served four years of honorable service. I do not believe that in any way qualified me as a hero. I did my duty and assumed the associated risks.
Today most folks have resolved to treat our serving military with more respect than was accorded those who served during Vietnam, and this is good. Unfortunately, it has become common and politically correct to call everyone serving in uniform a hero. This is not good.
I submit that calling someone a hero simply for serving is absurd. It removes the meaning from the word. The dictionary definition of heroism is “an act of great bravery.” It used to be that heroism required an extraordinary and selfless act of courage usually to help or save someone else.
If a person is a hero merely for donning a uniform then the mail carrier who brings your mail is a hero. After all he or she must brave dangerous neighborhoods, dodge traffic, evade threatening dogs and contend with severe weather. And if just putting your life at risk in the service of others makes you a hero then every teacher who ventures into the classroom is a hero. Many teachers go unarmed into some of the toughest places in the inner city. Likewise, the farmer who is injured or killed while working to bring crops to market for you must be considered a hero.
So I ask, just how cheap are we going to make heroism? Are we going to reach the point where everyone in uniform is automatically awarded the Silver Star or the Medal of Honor for completing boot camp? Or will we reserve the title of hero for those individuals who truly do something at extraordinary risk to themselves in selfless service to others?
© 2010 Michael Maurer Smith



