Victim Worship

The indiscriminate overuse of the word "hero" these days greatly devalues it.
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+1. It is perhaps because of this that my definition of a hero is almost unreachable. To become a hero for me, you have to put yourself out on the line, and accomplish something great, and have done it for others, not yourself. As for sports "heroes", :barf:. They are not risking anything, and they are doing it for themselves. That's all fine and I have no problem with them, but to label them as heroes is to degrade those who really deserve the term.

I think the word 'hero' is going the way of the word 'awesome'.
 
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If Lance Armstong is a hero for beating cancer his DOCTORS must be SUPERHEROS:confused: Everyone seems to have forgotten them if not for them he would be six foot under:)
 
The one that bothers me is the 'sports hero'. Since when is playing a game entry into being a hero.
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Well, we know that they take the sports/war metaphors WAY too far... :rolleyes:

Every time they announce a sports game, they say that team X "battled:" team Y... It's absurd.

And George Carlin took that up and said how ridiculous it is to call every damned thing a "war." He's right, you know. It's stupid. Let's stop leaning on that tired metaphor.


-blackmind
 
could I say my uncle is a hero ?? he is to me , and a true American one at that , He was drafted into the army in 1966 , he didn't have to go since he was the last male to bare the family name , he went because it was his duty to , out of boot camp he had the oportunity to stay stateside but he didn't because it was his duty to go , before he was deployed to Vietnam he was asked to work as a driver for a bird but nope ,he turned it down , when he was in Vietnam , he was assigned to a howitzer crew even though he was a sandtrapper (mechanic??) , in the line of duty my uncle and five other soldiers where killed in the line of duty when the artillery piece overheated and misfired with the breach open when they where reloading it . he was 19 and only over there for a month . He had 3 chances to not go ,But he told my grandparents It was his duty to serve this country like my grandfather did when WWII was going on . uncle Mike recieved the bronze star for dying for what his country asked him to do. He is a Hero In My Eyes .
 
Shoulda said this earlier...

Great Uncle, James F. "Bud" Comet... Served on the USS Samuel B. Roberts in WWII, fought hard, got sunk...

He was on the history channel earlier today, "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors"... One hell of a man.

Wolfe... (Wish I'da thought to post that BEFORE they showed it!)
 
People are not heroes just because they die in mishaps.

Let's understand something. They can be NOBLE for that reason -- they were serving nobly and killed during that service -- but if everyone who died in the service of something greater than themselves was a hero because of it, well, who wouldn't be a hero?


A cop is driving down the street on a routine patrol, nothing is on the scanner, he's not going to a call, and he's just driving. Suddenly there's an oil slick in the road, he spins out, flies off the highway, hits a tree and is killed by the impact.

Is he a hero? He didn't buy someone's survival by dying. He didn't make some noble cause attainable by sacrificing his life. He just died in a mishap.

I see the same thing happening with your uncle -- no disrespect intended. Things didn't go as they should have, and he was killed. His service was noble. But dying in the explosion did not qualify for hero status.


-blackmind
 
Blackmind:

He didn't die... In fact, he saved his captain who couldn't swim, as well as a few others.

Getting sunk ain't something to brag about, but saving people when other survivors were focused on saving themselves? Works for me.

Wolfe... (Btw, "Great Uncle": Grandparent's brother. "great uncle": A great uncle.)
 
I think when considering coonan357's point, it's important to distinguish between a definitive hero (someone who becomes reknowned for performing heroic acts) and a personal hero (a positive influence in a person's life, perhaps a mentor, whom a person looks to for their example.)
 
blackmind ,my uncle is my hero not because he died , its because of the 3 chances to bow out and he said No!, I am called to serve my country and I am going to do it . it was unfortunate that he was killed but he did it because of his beliefs , this was during a time when people where against the goverment , and alot of them would have taken the selfish task of bowing out .
 
I am called to serve my country and I am going to do it . it was unfortunate that he was killed but he did it because of his beliefs , this was during a time when people where against the goverment , and alot of them would have taken the selfish task of bowing out
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.That makes him an honorable man, not necessarily a hero.
I would rather be honorable than a hero. but it's usually harder
Audy Murphy was a hero, look into his life
a personal hero (a positive influence in a person's life, perhaps a mentor, whom a person looks to for their example.)
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A better definition would be "role model'

And just as an aside the sole surviving son clause is pretty much a myth unless his father was killed in the line of military duty
 
Garand Guy has risen above his ancestors

FWIW, my family heritage is BOTH French and German. For that, I could not be more ashamed.
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Good man.

My father-in-law is a rampant liberal and says Clinton was "A hell of a good P-e-i-e-t." (I expected much more from a former Navy officer):barf: :barf: . For that, I am ashamed.

BTW, I refuse to defile the Presidency by referring to Clinton as a P-e-i-e-t.
 
If Rosa Parks had actually acted as is typically portrayed I would agree.

but this was an act of civil disobedience orchestrated by the NAACP to bring national attention to an injustice that needed attention

I do not mean to in any way demean Ms Parks or make light of her contribution to this country.
I just don't feel it rises to the level of hero any more than the actions of the Vietnam War protesters actions were heroic.

They were risking jail time and public scorn for what they believed in also
 
Well, Joab - you are flat out wrong. Taking that act of civil disobedience was far more courageous than most of the chest pounding 2nd Amend. posturing we see on gun lists. When has there been a national movement sparked by a similar gun 'hero'.

Given the reaction of some in the South to the Civil Rights movements - beating, bombs, killings, etc. - to take that first step was heroic.

However, I would like to return to my initial post about sports heroes. Yesterday, I saw that Nike is starting to use guess who - Kobe Bryant in ads.

What a message to send to the young male. I never had much respect for the company to begin with, now they are trash in my eyes.
 
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