Heroes

[Orsorum]

How do you define a "hero"?

 

[konichiwa]

OT?

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: konichiwa
OT?

Possibly. I am curious to see how peoples' concepts of heroes differs from that which is offered by mass media, Hollywood, newspapers, etc.

 

[LeadMagnet]

Being from New England we define Hero as; A large sandwich , somethimes refered to as Sub , Torpedo, Hoagie, poor boy , Dagwood , bomber , Italian sandwich , and grinder.


And I belive the personal definition you are looking for is: Someone that helps others without concern to their own safety.

Note - sports personalities are not heros in my book

 

[Czar]

someone who helps others without seeking any personal gain, fame, money, own ego, own pride, just sheer will to help others

 

[Mean MrMustard]

Originally posted by: Czar
someone who helps others without seeking any personal gain, fame, money, own ego, own pride, just sheer will to help others

 

[Fencer128]

Originally posted by: ELP

Originally posted by: Czar
someone who helps others without seeking any personal gain, fame, money, own ego, own pride, just sheer will to help others

I agree, though I would say more succinctly:

"Someone who shows great courage or nobility, or who puts the well being of others before themselves."

Cheers,

Andy

 

[syzygy]

a hero is anyone who risks their personal safety or reputation to follow a principle that helps a person or persons
in dire need.

conversely, a person who would compromise their sense of justice for personal and/or political gain or who would
fail to engage in a mission to save a party in distress owing to their concern for bureacratic niceties is a coward.
kofi annan fits the definition of a coward to a tee.

 

[Fencer128]

Originally posted by: syzygy
a hero is anyone who risks their personal safety or reputation to follow a principle that helps a person or persons
in dire need.

conversely, a person who would compromise their sense of justice for personal and/or political gain or who would
fail to engage in a mission to save a party in distress owing to their concern for bureacratic niceties is a coward.
kofi annan fits the definition of a coward to a tee.

I don't follow that exactly. If that is so, because the US fails to engage in the war in the Dem. Rep. of Congo - G. W. Bush is a coward. But because Kofi Annan (by lieu of the UN) is engeged in this war (however you see the UN's performance) they are a hero?

Your example seems a bit simlpistic and slightly politically twisted to me.

Cheers,

Andy

 

[syzygy]

I don't follow that exactly. If that is so, because the US fails to engage in the war in the Dem. Rep. of Congo -
G. W. Bush is a coward. But because Kofi Annan (by lieu of the UN) is engeged in this war (however you see the
UN's performance) they are a hero?

politicians have to choose their level of engagement because their resources are limited. they cannot intervene with
military force in every hotspot the worldover and not face severe shortages in manpower and supplies. to use your
example, the congo and bush, bush would be required to use the best resources he has at the current time to effect
a resolution on the ground.

right now, american foreign policy concerns are stretched across two military fronts, and their is growing concern
with two more geoplotical centers (north korea and iran). while this does not make the congo any less important,
it does tax bush's ability as president to apportition any actual military froce for intervention in a region that does
not fit immediate national priorities.

but kofi annan is at fault, methinks, because he continues to rely on methods that have not proven successful, and
worse, in the face of continuous and mounting faliure and humiliation, chose to press on the same useless diplomatic
fronts that play into the hands of murderous third world strongmen.

worse still is the fact that his failures resulted in the prolonging of preventable suffering for countless innocent
people. he refused to resort to force to stem the onslaught against civilians in rwanda and bosnia. tens of thousands
of people died because he failed to act decisively, because he feared the consequences even when the worst case
scenario for a failed u.n. military intervention could not have turned out more horribly than the genocides which
actually occured. and then there is iraq. same m.o., and the same internal status quo would have continued, if
he had his way.

google kofi annan and rwanda, kofi annan and srebrenica. he served as head of u.n. 'peacekeeping' at the time
of these incidents.

 

[przero]

Here:

Gary I. Gordon
Rank and organization: Master Sergeant, U.S. Army.
Place and date: 3 October 1993, Mogadishu, Somalia.
Entered service at: ----- Born: Lincoln, Maine. Citation: Master Sergeant Gordon, United States Army, distinguished himself by actions above and beyond the call of duty on 3 October 1993, while serving as Sniper Team Leader, United States Army Special Operations Command with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia. Master Sergeant Gordon's sniper team provided precision fires from the lead helicopter during an assault and at two helicopter crash sites, while subjected to intense automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade fires. When Master Sergeant Gordon learned that ground forces were not immediately available to secure the second crash site, he and another sniper unhesitatingly volunteered to be inserted to protect the four critically wounded personnel, despite being well aware of the growing number of enemy personnel closing in on the site. After his third request to be inserted, Master Sergeant Gordon received permission to perform his volunteer mission. When debris and enemy ground fires at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, Master Sergeant Gordon was inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site. Equipped with only his sniper rifle and a [M1911] pistol, Master Sergeant Gordon and his fellow sniper, while under intense small arms fire from the enemy, fought their way through a dense maze of shanties and shacks to reach the critically injured crew members. Master Sergeant Gordon immediately pulled the pilot and the other crew members from the aircraft, establishing a perimeter which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position. Master Sergeant Gordon used his long range rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers until he depleted his ammunition. Master Sergeant Gordon then went back to the wreckage, recovering some of the crew's weapons and ammunition. Despite the fact that he was critically low on ammunition, he provided some of it to the dazed pilot and then radioed for help. Master Sergeant Gordon continued to travel the perimeter, protecting the downed crew. After his team member was fatally wounded and his own rifle ammunition exhausted, Master Sergeant Gordon returned to the wreckage, recovering a rifle with the last five rounds of ammunition and gave it to the pilot with the words, "good luck." Then, armed only with his pistol, Master Sergeant Gordon continued to fight until he was fatally wounded. His actions saved the pilot's life. Master Sergeant Gordon's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest standards of military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit and the United States Army.


And here:

Randall D. Shughart
Rank and organization: Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army.
Place and date: 3 October 1993, Mogadishu, Somalia.
Entered service at: ----- Born: Newville, Pennsylvania. Citation: Sergeant First Class Shughart, United States Army, distinguished himself by actions above and beyond the call of duty on 3 October 1993, while serving as a Sniper Team Member, United States Army Special Operations Command with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia. Sergeant First Class Shughart provided precision sniper fires from the lead helicopter during an assault on a building and at two helicopter crash sites, while subjected to intense automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade fires. While providing critical suppressive fires at the second crash site, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader learned that ground forces were not immediately available to secure the site. Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader unhesitatingly volunteered to be inserted to protect the four critically wounded personnel, despite being well aware of the growing number of enemy personnel closing in on the site. After their third request to be inserted, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader received permission to perform this volunteer mission. When debris and enemy ground fires at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader were inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site. Equipped with only his sniper rifle and a [M1911] pistol, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader, while under intense small arms fire from the enemy, fought their way through a dense maze of shanties and shacks to reach the critically injured crew members. Sergeant First Class Shughart pulled the pilot and the other crew members from the aircraft, establishing a perimeter which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position. Sergeant First Class Shughart used his long range rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers while traveling the perimeter, protecting the downed crew. Sergeant First Class Shughart continued his protective fire until he depleted his ammunition and was fatally wounded. His actions saved the pilot's life. Sergeant First Class Shughart's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest standards of military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit and the United States Army.

That's how you define hero!