Is This Vet a Hero?

[ink]

Lets not forget that not everyone shares the thought that the war was for nothing or a farce.  I for one, having friends that are still in, know it was not a farce.

We can just agree to disagree on this one INK.


Do not judge others because they sin differently than you do...

I like that and it is very true

oh it was for something all right....not that we can get into it.

[USRanger]

I'm refraining from this discussion, but I like this pic.

[stealth]

Well since were all asking what makes a hero? Let me just add that not merely being in a life threatening battle ground taking enemy fire is not the only way to become a hero. I've seen many people who are heroes in their own little way. Heroes because they didn't fall into deep depression when they lost a very beloved family member and kept standing strong for those younger then him/her. Even that nice friend of yours that stays up with you all night on the phone helping you get through emotional trauma. So really to me at least being a hero is about doing the right thing. Since there's no annual hero award event every month and a list of what it takes to apply and "become a hero". Then I think doing what's right fits good enough for what it means to become a hero. Then again though there's a thin line between doing what's right and doing what's necessary.

[USRanger]

Well since were all asking what makes a hero? Let me just add that not merely being in a life threatening battle ground taking enemy fire is not the only way to become a hero. I've seen many people who are heroes in their own little way. Heroes because they didn't fall into deep depression when they lost a very beloved family member and kept standing strong for those younger then him/her. Even that nice friend of yours that stays up with you all night on the phone helping you get through emotional trauma. So really to me at least being a hero is about doing the right thing. Since there's no annual hero award event every month and a list of what it takes to apply and "become a hero". Then I think doing what's right fits good enough for what it means to become a hero. Then again though there's a thin line between doing what's right and doing what's necessary.

 

[Changeup]

Well since were all asking what makes a hero? Let me just add that not merely being in a life threatening battle ground taking enemy fire is not the only way to become a hero. I've seen many people who are heroes in their own little way. Heroes because they didn't fall into deep depression when they lost a very beloved family member and kept standing strong for those younger then him/her. Even that nice friend of yours that stays up with you all night on the phone helping you get through emotional trauma. So really to me at least being a hero is about doing the right thing. Since there's no annual hero award event every month and a list of what it takes to apply and "become a hero". Then I think doing what's right fits good enough for what it means to become a hero. Then again though there's a thin line between doing what's right and doing what's necessary.

Rgr that

[Shane]

He's a Hiroo not a hero!

 

[Changeup]

There are two heros in this.....the soldier and his doctor

http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201202/burning-man-sam-brown-jay-kirk-gq-february-2012?currentPage=1

[mechanic]

I would say the Japanese guy was not a hero but a nutter. He apparently killed dozens of local population and local military. At some point when you are shooting guys armed with Vietnam era equipment who are exclaiming that the war was over you would think he might have stopped and considered his position to be one of extreme ignorance to the state of world politics even if by some chance the second world war was still going.

Dedicated soldier? Absolutely. Unhinged loony? Quite possibly. I'm sure 30 years at war in the jungle would make me insane too. But I'm also sure that my common sense would have ended that situation decades sooner. Hero? No way!

[guncrasher]

nobody is a hero to everybody.  if his people thought he was a hero, let it be. 

semp

[mechanic]

I'm glad you said that, I was just about to write a letter to Japan on the subject.

[Changeup]

I'm glad you said that, I was just about to write a letter to Japan on the subject.

Could you sign my name to it too?   Just sign, "How the hell did this happen?" With a smiley face stick man

[cpxxx]

The problem is that the term hero has been over used lately. Most serving soldiers are probably embarrassed by it because of course they know who the real heroes are and are quick to tell you if you ask.

So was the Japanese soldier a hero? Some might think so but he probably thought he was just doing his job.

To change the cliché 'One man' terrorist is another man's hero.' In the troubled history of my country there are those considered heroes by some but to me they are cowards and murderers. No hero deliberately plants a bomb in a crowded street to kill innocent men, women and children no matter what the cause.

I don't have many heroes and I'm not one myself. The real heroes are often never recognised.

[GScholz]

It seems a lot of people a confused to what a hero is. A person is a hero if people look upon that person as such; "a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal."

It doesn't really matter what that person has actually accomplished. It's all about image and admiration. If people think you're a hero, you are a hero. If people don't have a clue who you are and don't look up to you, you're not a hero... regardless of what you may have done.

If there are people who think of this Japanese officer as a hero, then he is a hero... to them. No matter what.


If the general population admire soldiers for what they do in general (regardless of individual acts) and look up to them as models or ideals, then by definition soldiers are heroes.

[RotBaron]

It seems a lot of people a confused to what a hero is. A person is a hero if people look upon that person as such; "a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal."

It doesn't really matter what that person has actually accomplished. It's all about image and admiration. If people think you're a hero, you are a hero. If people don't have a clue who you are and don't look up to you, you're not a hero... regardless of what you may have done.

If there are people who think of this Japanese officer as a hero, then he is a hero... to them. No matter what.


If the general population admire soldiers for what they do in general (regardless of individual acts) and look up to them as models or ideals, then by definition soldiers are heroes.

Wrong for so many reasons, your definition is why kids look up to Hollywood and not the real people involved the histories portrayed.

[GScholz]

It's not my definition. It's the definition of the world in the English language. It's all about the admiration, not the person itself. It's funny that you mention Hollywood since the principal male character in a movie is by definition a hero.



hero
 
he·ro
[heer-oh] Show IPA
noun, plural he·roes; for 5 also he·ros.

1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.

2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal.

3. the principal male character in a story, play, film, etc.