Heroes. We all have them. From the minute our doe-eyed little 5 year old brains could comprehend popular culture and interpersonal relationships, we began idolizing at least one figure in our life. Whether it was the Cookie Monster, Spongebob, Superman, Jesus Christ, or even our own parents, we looked up to
someone. We begin to latch on to any figure.
I know for a fact that myself, I sat down and watched Saturday morning cartoons as much as possible. While
Sesame Street offered me educational fun programming, I felt as though I could identify with my heroes like Optimus Prime and Duke. These characters were strong-willed, leaders, and used all of their virtues to beat those bad sons of bitches, Megatron and Cobra Commander. In addition to my parents, I’d say I looked up to these goofy shows for my moral upbringing and my first ideas of “heroism.”
As I grew, I have truly wished that I could make the same impact on the world as these characters make in theirs. It’s a bit outlandish, but I’ve always wished to be “Superman” of our “Earth-Prime.” But when I truly grew up and realized the ridiculous idea of being a “superhero”, I realized that true heroism is completely downplayed in our current culture. Hero is a term that we use loosely…hell, how many of us have said “you’re my hero” to someone who has pleased us…yes, even in
that way.
Hell, we’ve even done it with our celebrities. Teenagers grow up idolizing actors, musicians, “musicians,” sports figures…outside of a few exceptions, what have these people done to merit the word “hero?” Actors have not exhibited true heroism since the days of
Jimmy Stewart actually
enlisting in the military. I love me some
Clapton, and while the man has had a tumultuous life, I wouldn’t say he was a “hero” of mine. And I’d say one of the greatest running backs to play the game of football (not to mention for my favorite team),
Jim Brown, as a grade-A asshat. These aren’t heroes…they’re merely famous.
Which brings me to my greatest irk of today’s society: given the popular media, famous folks run from multimillion dollar actors to dipshits who seek 10 seconds of fame by appearing a stupid-ass reality show. I hate,
hate, that the random passerby on the street is more likely to name the cast of
Jersey Shore than name the countries that fought in World War II. What the hell happened? Are history books 30 years from now going to concentrate less on our current national issues and more on
Lebron James and his soap opera decision? (Later for that…I am so annoyed by this “story” I can’t think straight).
With all this said, it appears that the true heroes are (wait for it) unsung. It really looks that way in today’s society. You can hear of true heroic stories at times, but honestly, I am more likely to hear it in a speech by a military figure or from a firefighter rather than in any news story. Great stories of heroism are littered through the world, but we seem to refuse to seek them out. Instead we live in our fantasy world (and I’m guilty of this too) by concentrating on the heroes of fiction. While I love John McClane as much as anyone, his actions really do not substitute for men and women who really ARE risking everything for what is just and right.
Heroes are like guys like
Michael Strank. This is a man who enlisted in the United States Marine Corps at the same age many of us were waiting for our 21st birthday to hit so we could drink ourselves stupid. In his service, Japan made the decision to bomb the crap out of Pearl Harbor.
Michael was, if you read the book
Flags of our Fathers or…goddammit,
saw the movie…one of the six men who raised the flag on Iwo Jima. Ironically, the flag raising was essentially staged to take the famous photograph…the first raising was done by a separate group of guys.
If you read the book, you’d know why I picked
Michael out of all the gentlemen who raised that flag. He was one of the leaders, the guy you could always count on. One of the other flag-raisers,
Harlon Block, idolized him…as did many of the Marines he worked with. A natural-born leader, he helped keep many men alive on that island until he was tragically cut down by an artillery shell while trying to lead his men to safety. He was 26 years old.
Why am I telling this story? Well, hopefully I entice you to go out and read this book. But mostly, I’m mentioning a guy who really exemplified heroism in its fullest extent…and honestly, the flag-raising PR bit is the least of the man’s accomplishments (though it’s the most famous). He was the quintessential Marine, the guy who would always be counted on for anything and just wanted to make sure his unit would taken care of. But how do I even know him? Because of some flag-raising that he probably didn’t even see merit in at the time.
There are dozens of
Michael Stranks out there, and not just folks in the military. I’m talking about people who you can rely on, people who are willing to sacrifice their very lives for ideals and justice…and for those they love. I’m sure you know plenty of unsung heroes in your own life that overshadow
Captain America himself.
And that’s no small feat.
Unrelated note, hope all had a happy July 4th…I love this friggin’ country and all her imperfections.
Movie:
The Great Escape – True story of a German POW camp during World War II and the efforts of the English and American prisoners attempting escape. Awesome cast, but what makes it truly great is the dichotomy between the Brits and Yanks: one side is concentrating on putting together phony documents, clothes, building tunnels, etc. and the other is bribing, blackmailing, scrounging and getting in trouble. God bless the USA.
TV Show:
Community – Yeah, it’s on reruns, but I ended up watching the “paintball” episode while
ESPN sucked
Lebron James off. More
Die Hard references than you can shake a stick at…and hilarious.
Song:
Living in America -
James Brown. C’mon, you know you secretly love
Rocky IV. It’s one of America’s guilty pleasures.
Book:
Flags of our Fathers – Read this book. Seriously. I actually had tears…and for me, that’s no small feat.
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