Yesterday we went to the dedication ceremony for the opening of the South Florida Veterans' National Cemetery held in Lantana or Lake Worth as some call it on Rte.441 just south of Lantana Rd. Robin was able to get us VIP passes that permitted us to park on site, and we also got front row seats. Robin sat on stage with all the other VIPs and when the Secretary of the Dep't. of Veterans' Affairs, James B. Peake, spoke he was kind enough to mention Robin's name and her contribution to the existence of this much needed cemetery here in Palm Beach County where 1100 veterans, mostly from WWII, die each day. The Undersecretary of the VA for Memorial Affairs, a job which Robin once held also spoke. However, Ron Klein, our congressman--who seemed to be the only Democrat--also added his own comments. Altogether, with the 19 gun salute for the Secretary and the color guards and about 150 bikers, and the playing of taps, and a high school orchestra, and about 3000 spectators, it was a wonderful ceremony. I may volunteer to help out there in any way I can. The ceremony started at 2pm and was over by 2:45 after which Robin, Rhoda and I, and my sister and brother-in-law went to the mall at Wellington and had lunch at Ruby Tuesday's. We finally got home about 5pm.
Coincidentally and appropriately enough, today I had an article on "Heroism" printed on the Editorial Page of the Sun-Sentinal. It pays tribute mostly to those who failed to survive in our wars since the American Revolution. I claim that they are the real "heroes". The only "heroism" I lay claim to is the fact that I have survived two marriages and four kids and a teaching career. But so far, no one has come forward to pin a medal on me. Anyway, I include here a link to the article if you have not already read it as a blog.
6 comments:
Congratulations on having your article published -- it's well worth it. Upon reading it again, I came up with two philosophical questions: 1) You wrote that "the true heroes were not the survivors, but those who fought and didn't come back". Does that mean the soldier who threw his body on a grenade to save his comrades would be any less a true hero if the grenade failed to explode?
2) Is a soldier in Iraq (or anywhere else) any less a hero because there may not be a noble cause for which he is fighting?
1)If the soldier is fighting in Iraq, in my opinion the war there is not a noble cause; a soldier joins the military, he gets paid, and he goes where they send him. He could care less about Iraq if that's where he is sent. What's his motivation? He wants to come home. If a soldier throws his body on a grenade and it doesn't explode, whether or not he is in Iraq, his act is heroic; It's a noble cause to save his buddy's life by sacrificing his own. In Iraq, there may arise many opportunities for heroism; if such a situation doesn't arise and you come home in one piece, why would you be called a hero? Especially if your primary aim is to get the hell out of there.
2)Without a noble cause, there can be no heroism. The soldier is merely a mercenary fighting for some other person's perceived "noble cause". In my opinion, the greatest hero in history was Abraham Lincoln. Besides his effort to save the Union and free the slaves, his Gettysburg Address was truly heroic. If you or anyone else has a greater hero, I'd be interested to hear about it. I, myself, make no claim to heroism, although others have differed. If I wear my medals, make no mistake,it's to honor those I left behind.
I'm not really "Anonymous".
"Without a noble cause, there can be no heroism." So, who decides what qualifies as a noble cause? You seem to be implying that it has to be in the mind (motivation) of the soldier rather than in the reasoning of those who sent him. So, does that make heroes out of the Confederate troops fighting to the death for their perceived noble cause of states' rights (including slavery)? In your own case, I'm sure surviving was a strong motivation, but didn't you go into your plane each time (struggling against fear) because of a sense of duty and comradeship with your fellow airmen, and didn't you believe that your cause was noble? Would you have been more of a hero if your plane had been downed? Are you less of hero because the antiaircraft gunners had bad aim?
1.Who decides? You do.
2.To the South, their cause was noble. To the North they were rebels.
3.He's a hero if the grenade exploded or not. His cause was noble.
4.My plane was shot down.
5.In my mind, my 18 yr.old buddies who are buried over there are the heroes. Because of that I cannot consider myself a hero. I'll leave that to others.
I think I have to agree with Joel on this. While it is a good point that heroes come out of noble causes, I think it is immaterial in defining heroism to debate the nobility or non-nobility of the war in Iraq or the War Between the States or any war for that matter. War is waged by politicians. Battles are fought by men and women who believe their mission is noble. While many of them believe they are doing something noble for their country, many more believe they are doing something noble for their families back home, and still more believe they are doing something noble for their comrades. They are putting themselves into harm's way(today's servicemen and women are all volunteers), while there are others who have chosen not to for whatever reason. I disagree with the notion that you must suffer physical injury to return a hero. The credit goes to those who are in the arena.
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