A Genuine Hero

Over the past six years, I’ve heard those words many times, and been often puzzled. What is a hero, what is heroism? These are the “book” definitions:

Hero – somebody who commits an act of remarkable bravery or who has shown an admirable quality such as great courage or strength of character.

Heroism – the qualities of a hero or heroine; exceptional or heroic courage when facing danger (especially in battle).

I recognize that there is the trivial definition of a hero, the one that applies to sports figures or to comic book characters. I don’t mind the trivial, because it’s so much so that it creates no confusion. Adults, anyway, know those aren’t real heroes.

Pundits and politicians gain points by indiscriminatingly crowning heroes, seemingly anyone who’s died or been exposed to danger, regardless of behavior. That's been particularly striking in regard to those who lost their lives to the cowards who attacked the twin towers of the World Trade Center in September, 2001. I’m saddened that anyone lost his or her life, of course. This isn’t about being callous. I’m not. But if they’re all heroes, then how do we characterize those who, well, are…see? What language describes them?

Look at it this way. A blind man stands in the middle of a Manhattan street, apparently disoriented. Another man comes along, sees a bus bearing down on the blind man, and dashes into harm’s way. Alas, he’s too late. They’re both run over by the bus. Is our would-be rescuer a hero? Success isn’t required for heroism, so yes, he is; and since neither is failure a requirement of heroism, had he succeeded, and both lived, he’s not less a hero, is he?

But if we fall into the simple (and perhaps ingratiating) habit of calling them both heroes, then we’ve devalued the selfless act of the genuine hero, haven’t we? Thus we degrade the language. Semantics? That supposed indictment is a refuge for the uncomprehending.

There were many heroes on that day in September. Certainly the firefighters who went up to help others get down. There was one for certain, and we’re lucky that his story survives, even if he didn’t. Rick Rescorla, a naturalized US citizen born in Britain, was a hero at least twice in his life. First in Vietnam where he commanded Bravo Company, Second Battalion, Seventh Cavalry on LZ X-ray in a battle recounted by Hal G. Moore in We Were Soldiers Once…and Young (Random House, 1992).

Rescorla was a hero again on September 11, 2001. Both stories, and more, are told by Pulitzer Prize winning author James B. Stewart in Heart of a Soldier (Simon & Schuster, 2002). The sense of Stewart’s book is captured in its subtitle, A Story of Love, Heroism, and September 11th. Reading it settles once and for all what honor, duty, and heroism really are.