Daniel Hernandez. Dorwan Stoddard. Patricia Maisch. Bill Badger. Roger Salzgeber. Joseph Zamudio.
Ever heard of any of these people? Unless you closely follow and absorb CNN or something similar, probably not.
They’ve all got something in common: they are now heroes because of how they acted on Jan. 8, 2011, while watching U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords speak outside of a grocery store in Tucson, Ariz.
Hernandez immediately rushed over to Giffords and attempted to stem her bleeding, and is credited with saving her life.
Stoddard was shot and killed when he threw himself in front of his wife, who then survived. Maisch, Badger, Salzgeber and Zamudio all rushed forward and tackled the shooter, Jared Loughner, as he attempted to reload his gun and prevented him from doing so.
I believe the word “hero” can often be overused, and, in doing that, the connotation of the word is degraded.
Many people are labeled as heroes for going through a hard event or illness they had no choice but to experience. Yes, they can be heroes.
But, in my mind, a hero is someone who selflessly chooses to put themselves in harm’s way or goes out of their way to help someone else.
Those six people, along with everyone else who stepped up at that Arizona shooting, are examples of heroes.
Another, more readily recognizable, kind of hero are members of the military. Part of the reason I admire troops so much is that I know that I could never, ever do what they do.
On top of constantly putting their lives on the line and volunteering to live in the most dangerous areas of the world, they’re leaving behind their family and comfortable way of life.
I’ve never heard anyone say, ‘Thank you for volunteering to miss your newborn learn to walk, because you loved your country so much.’ How much more would that mean than the generic “Thank you for fighting”?
Opportunities such as throwing yourself in front of a bullet for someone else (thankfully) don’t happen too often around here, but there are so many ways in everyday life people are heroes, and oftentimes go completely unrecognized.
A week or so ago, during that extremely cold spell we had, when wind chills hung far below zero, I was driving home and saw a woman picking up trash along the side of the road in her neighborhood. It was dark outside.
She wasn’t doing it to be seen by her neighbors or to get their approval.
In fact, had my headlights not landed right on her as I was turning, I wouldn’t have known she was there at all. She was just being a good person, a local hero.
Heroes don’t do the things that they do to receive recognition. That being said, stopping someone after you see them help pick up a spilled folder or stand up to a bully for someone they may not know and saying thank you can really go a long way.
The dictionary says that a hero is “a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.”
I don’t think I’ve ever said this before, but I think I know more than the dictionary. Some of the best heroes are unthanked, unrecognized and step up because they know it’s the right thing to do. Sometimes, the best kinds of heroes are the people who will pick up trash in the cold.
