Can You Be A Hero?

What is a hero? Webster's New World Dictionary defines it as; any man admired for his courage, nobility or exploits. Also; any man admired for his qualities or achievements and rearded as an ideal or model.

Can anyone be a hero? Of course they can. Do you need any special talents to be a hero? No, you don't need any. Does one wake up in the morning and say, "I think I'll be a hero today." I don't think so. But everyone can be a hero to someone.

You can be the quiet hero. The adult that mentors a youngster, showing them the way to become a productive member of society. I think that good parents are heros. It takes a lot to raise a child today. Love. Discipline. Patience. Sacrifice. The parent working several jobs for his/her family. Grandparents raising their grandchildren. Teachers that take the time to build a child's self esteem.

Then you have your public heros. Firefighters, police officers, EMT's, soldiers, doctors, nurses. These are the people you think of first when you think hero.

Atheletes can fall into the hero catagory. I don't really think of them that way. Sure they are an asset to their team. Maybe they scored the winning touch down or winning goal but I don't think that those kinds of feats affects other's lives. Now an athelete that gives his time to charities, that's another story. To do something good with your name is a great thing whether it be starting your own foundation or visiting sick children. You're a hero if you do that. I say put your money where your mouth is.



Then there are your bigger than life heros. I want to talk about 2 recent events of the past week and one from 25 years ago. The first being Wesley Autrey. He is the man that jumped down on to the subway tracks to save the life of another man. With a train coming! What was he thinking? Or was he not thinking? I could be wrong but my guess is that he didn't think. He reacted to a fellow human in danger. His two young children were on the subway platform with him. He had to leave them alone while performing this heroic act. What if his rescue had not been successful? His children would be without their father. That's why I think he reacted in the moment. Let's face it, if heros thought it through everytime, they wouldn't do it. Would you be able to do it? If it were to save my children, I would do whatever it took, whatever the risk. I would give my life for theirs. But in the case of someone I didn't know? I guess I don't know if I would until I'm put in that situation. I'd like to think I had the guts to save another person. Mr Autrey is a Navy veteran. Could that have had something to do with it? Mr. Autery has been showered with publicity as well as gifts such as a week long trip to Disney World, $10,000. from Donald Trump, a scholarship for his children, a Bronze medallion, New York City's highest award for civic achievement from Mayor Bloomberg and he gets to ride the subway for free for one year. He certainly deserves all of these accolades. Thank goodness for men like Wesley Autrey.

Two days later, best friends,Julio Gonzalez and Pedro Nevarez were walking down the sidewalk, again in New York City, and heard a child (3 years old) calling for help. Imagine looking upward and seeing a child dangling 4 stories up. The child let go and was caught by Mr. Gonzalez after bouncing off Nevarez. Talk about being in the right place at the right place. There was a gardian angel with those three people that day.









Twenty five years ago this month, Florida Air flight 90 took off from Washington D.C. in a severe snowstorm. The Boeing 737 could not gain altitude and clipped the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River. It crashed through the 1" thick ice on the river. Helicopters were despatched to participate in the rescue. Meanwhile, watching from the bridge was a 28 year old office worker named Lenny Skutnik. He saw a woman floundering in the water and realized she could wait no longer for a life line. Lenny then took off his coat and boots and without any thought to his own life, plunged into the frigid water, swam to her and brought her to safety. He later was quoted as saying, "I just couldn't stand there and do nothing to help." Mr. Skutnik was later awarded with the U.S. Coast Guard Gold Lifesaving medal and the Carnegie Hero Fund Medal. He attended the State of the Union address with First Lady Nancy Reagan. Another hero from the crash was Arland D. Williams Jr. He was on the doomed plane and still attached to it. He repeatedly handed off the life line from the helicopter to others to be rescued. That day 5 people were saved, 78 died including Williams when the plane sunk and took him with it.


"There are many kinds of heros in life, male and female. Everyone and anyone can be one." Summer

"Each man is a hero and an oracle to somebody and to that person whatever he says has an enhanced value." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in."
Andrew Jackson