| |
I’ve never given much thought to who would be my hero.
I guess it all depends on what we consider makes a hero.
Is it the one who in the heat of conflict rushes in to save his comrades?
It may well be. But then if this same person acted without thinking,
Not weighing the outcome. Is this true heroism, or just blind reaction?
There is a story about a hero in the Korean conflict, it was not war.
Or so they told us.
Those that died probably could not have told you the difference.
War or conflict, you’re just as dead.
This soldier who was awarded the highest honour, posthumously of course.
Was as drunk as a lord, so the story goes. He threw beer bottles at the enemy
before charging them and killing them. He died at the same time.
Was he a hero?
We have in all armies, those we refer to as ‘Gung Ho’.
They usually volunteer for the most dangerous missions.
Of course they also volunteer the men they command,
who would probably rather not go. War can be enough hell without
looking for more.
So to return to the question. What makes a hero?
The term hero has lost a lot of its meaning, as has the term ‘brave’.
People are called heroes because they excel at some sport, like football.
Or they climb mountains. Sail single-handed around the world.
To me it begs the question. What is it that is heroic in any of these feats?
I assume that the motivation for any and all of these is fame and money.
I can not see how these can be classed as heroism.
Is a hero one who acts swiftly? The heroic act accomplished in seconds
or minutes.
There is no doubt that this can be the case.
And no less heroic for being over quickly.
Well I have decided that my hero is not as any mentioned so far.
This man married quite young, fathered three children.
Stayed in his job for thirty-eight years, a job he grew to hate.
Work was scarce, so the options were none existent.
He was in the job throughout WW2. Never missing a days work.
Walking ten miles to get to the factory when the public
transport came to a standstill, due to the weather, usually what we
called smog, a fog that burned ones lungs if you were foolish
enough to venture out in it.
He ventured because he saw it as his duty to reach his work,
Work that was vital to the country.
He did have pneumonia a few times because of it.
Of course there was the enemy bombing halting the transport as well.
He would work all day, then do fire-watch duties all night.
Considering that the Germans knew of the factory,
and the vital contribution it was making to the war effort.
They kept trying to drop bombs on it. So he had a fairly hazardous time.
While all this was going on he was also trying to raise his family.
Being a responsible parent he tried to instill good moral values in his children,
A good code of ethics, including the work ethic.
He insisted they worked hard a school so that they never had to work
as he had done.
He taught his daughter to behave like ladies, and his son a gentleman.
I think he succeeded.
Well that’s my hero. A hero for all those years. A hero who died of a cancer
a few months after he retired.
Oh, if you haven’t guessed already.
My hero is my father.
|
Help Us Stop Plagiarism -
Nearly all works at PnP are original. However a few people choose to plagiarize.
To check, choose a phrase from the work, then either drag and drop to the search box or copy and paste.
click on search and works at Google will be shown which match. Just to be sure, please do this before
you recommend or rate the work highly...
|
 |
|
|
|
Select a Random Work
from Stories
|
|
Welcome !
