Why am I not surprised.
Personally, I think we have devalued the label "hero." Oh, there are real heroes, it's just that they get lost in the ever-widening herd of people that get injured in combat due to idiocy, little girls who bake cookies for homeless shelters and posers who tie a teddy bear to their handlebars once per year to "save the children."
Altruism is its own reward. And frankly, people are supposed to be doing the good stuff anyway.
But it sickens me when people cash in on fame. When I see these "heroes" get a book deal or become the movie of the week I start to smell fish heads.
A few days ago a story was printed that events surrounding a CMoH presentation "may have been exaggerated." Yes, the young man in question did some brave deeds, but his handlers--including our Klutz in Chief--used the resulting circus to garner headlines for some agenda. My guess is that this young man will never be able to look upon that medal again in the same way. Knowing people, half of the country will believe him to be duplicitous, and I'd advise him to give the medal back and hope most folks forget the incident.
So when I hear the term "hero" I get a pain in my wallet. So much so that if I'm ever privileged by fate to pull a pregnant woman out of a burning building by killing 17 arson terrorists with a Cub Scout knife while twirling an apple pie in the other hand, I'd duck into the crowd and change my name.
In our present society naming someone a hero is tantamount to branding everyone else a sucker.
"Imagine a king who fights his own battles. Wouldn't that be a sight?" Brad Pitt as Achilles in the movie 'Troy'
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