View Full Version : Who are your heroes?
3SoldierDad
03-01-2008, 11:18
The late Joseph Campbell said that if you want to understand a society or a culture understand its heroes. There are many different types of heroes – Athlete Heroes, Political Heroes, Military Heroes, Family Heroes, Religious Heroes, Business Heroes, Living Heroes, etc…
Some of my Heroes…
Athlete – Wrestler Dan Gable… Gave me a glimpse of the dedication necessary to be worldclass in anything
Political – George Washington….For giving-up power
Military – Soldiers who gave all for my freedom
Family – My adopted son Sal for bouncing back from severe brain trauma after multiple machete blows to the skull
Religious – King David – For failing so spectacularly and for repenting even more marvelously
Business – Warren Buffet – For his wisdom in recognizing commercial value
Living – This community of QPs...Serving and SF veterans alike
Who are your heroes?
Three Soldier Dad...Chuck
My Heroes...
Team Sergeant
The Reaper
Pete
Dan
Ambush Master
SF_BHT
All SF Men etc...
Heroes, IMHO, are those that serve and have served to protect all of us.
Like Your sons, Chuck. ;)
They serve not for money, not for power, not for fame...but they ensure Americans are safe. Enough said, again, IMHO.:munchin
Holly
Simple. My dad....and every other man and woman who's worn the uniform for our Country.
A very long list. However, one I would like to mention is the splendid splinter. I believe he fought in two wars and still hit over 500 home runs.
Lastly, every single dog faced soldier who was scared s***list and still moved towards the sound of battle.
Team Sergeant
03-02-2008, 22:35
Albert Einstein
John Wayne
Superman
J. R. R. Tolkien
Edwin Hubble
Kurt Vonnegut
Thor & Odin
Benjamin Franklin
Steve Irwin
Stephen Hawking
Robert A. Heinlein
All of America's Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines
I could go on and on.... good question.
TS
My list would be long.
But quit simply, anyone who thinks of others before themselves, past, present and future.
Go Devil
03-03-2008, 15:54
Great topic!
I also have a long list, but will post the top four.
George Gadd ( My Father )
At the time of my birth my Dad had buried one daughter and was experiencing another who was dying from a brain tumor. He would soon bury two more sons and his last daughter. He lived every day in a very positive way. He would later die of the hereditary cancer that took the lives of his children.
My dad lived a very difficult life, however I had never witnessed my father express negativity, he simply allowed the dark times to polish him to a brilliant shine.
Desmond Doss ( World War Two Veteran/ MOH Recipient)
A man of amazing conviction and sacrifice. There is a documentary of his life on YouTube.
Joseph Kittinger (Test Pilot/Veteran/POW)
His intestinal fortitude durning the Exelsior project is awe inspiring.
Theodore Roosevelt (President/MOH Recipient)
The man had heart, mind, and drive to change the world around him.
Great topic!
Desmond Doss ( World War Two Veteran/ MOH Recipient)
A man of amazing conviction and sacrifice. There is a documentary of his life on YouTube.
.
Saw the full version of this one some time ago on TV. What an inspiring guy!!
Paste Eater
03-03-2008, 22:07
Lance P. Sijan - Not only for his actions during his life ending ordeal, but from what I read of his character leading up toward the end.
There are too many persons and too many reasons to fully list. So many persons I've never met have motivated me through their actions and their words.
There was one summer several years ago. I was pushing a mower around Southern Ohio up and down hill in some serious heat day in and out, and I'd always see the boss (ex officer and ranger) of the company riding his bike or running during his lunch hour. I asked him how he could tolerate the heat one day, just to make small talk. He said, "It builds character." That was it.
Red Flag 1
03-04-2008, 00:18
Agree with TS; this is a great question!
Athlete: Lou Gherig & Pat Tillman.
Political: Harry S. Truman , Ronald Reagan & Winston Churchill.
Religious: Pope John Paul II; taught us to live and die with honor and dignity.
Military: Those soldiers, sailors and airmen who know the expense of war
and return to offer the ultimate sacrifice.
Family: My Mother and those like her.
Community: Law Enforcement Officers; under paid..often maligned..always
answering the call to serve those who under pay and malign them.
Great American: John Wayne...The image of America.
Thanks for asking this question, it will keep me thinking.
RF 1
TangoSierra
03-04-2008, 00:32
SSG Paul Sweeney
http://www.engine167ladder87.com/honorary.html
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
Mine are the following:
1) Jesus Christ (absolutely first and foremost)
2) Any Cleveland based professional team (even more so if they win it all!)
3) Colonel Robin Olds
4) Any SOG member that ran recon
5) Any SF soldier in Vietnam
6) Ambush Master
7) Warrant Officer Hugh C. Thompson, Jr. and his crewmen: Spc. 4 Lawrence Colburn and Spc. 4 Glenn U. Andreotta (crew chief). Anybody want to try and guess what these brave men did?
8) Any pilot of the F-105 Thunderchief during Vietnam including the Wild Weasels
9) Any Law Enforcement Officer who has lost their life in combat on the streets of this country.
10) Chris Cocks
11) David Scott-Donelan
12) John Wayne
13) Ronald Reagen
14) Hal Moore
15) Alfred Nobel
My Grandmother who turns 96 in April.
Everytime I feel like having an Army wife pity-party I think of her and her life as an Army daughter, wife, mother, and grandmother through WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, OIF, and everything in between with a dad, husband, brother, son, or grandson involved in them all. I just visited her this weekend in Marin County and when I told her that I had just gotten a message from my husband she said "oh you got a cable?" I replied that I'd actually gotten a text message and showed her my phone. I admitted to her that my life as an Army wife was a lot easier than hers and she replied, "But war, is still war." I love my Grandmother to bits and want to be just like her.
My other heroes are the men she loves and others like them in uniform.
My Grandmother who turns 96 in April.
Everytime I feel like having an Army wife pity-party I think of her and her life as an Army daughter, wife, mother, and grandmother through WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, OIF, and everything in between with a dad, husband, brother, son, or grandson involved in them all. I just visited her this weekend in Marin County and when I told her that I had just gotten a message from my husband she said "oh you got a cable?" I replied that I'd actually gotten a text message and showed her my phone. I admitted to her that my life as an Army wife was a lot easier than hers and she replied, "But war, is still war." I love my Grandmother to bits and want to be just like her.
My other heroes are the men she loves and others like them in uniform.
Shar, ;)
Great post! Your Grandmother sounds like an incredible Lady.
Holly
Remington Raidr
03-05-2008, 15:39
"The Cleaner". By the time all is said and done, he will need an agent.;)
...
7) Warrant Officer Hugh C. Thompson, Jr. and his crewmen: Spc. 4 Lawrence Colburn and Spc. 4 Glenn U. Andreotta (crew chief). Anybody want to try and guess what these brave men did?
After researching all I can say is 'wow'. It's men like that that help keep a soldiers image what it should be, instead of the dirty stuff you see everywhere else.
7) Warrant Officer Hugh C. Thompson, Jr. and his crewmen: Spc. 4 Lawrence Colburn and Spc. 4 Glenn U. Andreotta (crew chief). Anybody want to try and guess what these brave men did?
These were the guys that stopped the My Lai Massacre by putting themmselves between the Soldiers and the remaining civilians.
When I was growing up in the fifties and sixties we were surrounded by heroes. Now they call them "The Greatest Generation" Common men of uncommon valor.
When I was growing up in the fifties and sixties we were surrounded by heroes. Now they call them "The Greatest Generation" Common men of uncommon valor.
Heroes...They are among Us.:lifter
Holly
3SoldierDad
03-09-2008, 11:29
Down the Bay from Berkeley, Fremont Marine Cpl. Tar Po was wounded twice in Iraq and goes back to the sandbox - Again!
This guy and men like him are my quintessential heroes. They represent everything that is good in a person; everything that is honorable and decent in a man. Everything.
Berkley and their city officials represent everything that I despise and loathe in certain people - EVERYTHING.
They are not worthy of men like Cpl. Po.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marines find Ramadi more welcoming than Berkeley…California city officials would banish them
March 07, 2008 WorldNetDaily
By Matt Sanchez
BERKELEY – "The Marines are unwelcome here." These weren't the comments of a banana republic dictator or the rantings of a religious radical. These were the words of Tom Bates, the elected mayor of Berkeley.
It's difficult to match up the animosity of the residents of Berkeley, Calif., USA, with the residents of Ramadi, Anbar, Iraq. I met Ramadis who were so happy to have the Marines among them that they literally hugged and kissed them on the streets. Children made high-five signs when they saw Marines of the 3rd battalion 7th Marines on patrol and residents insisted they come in to drink chai and eat goats the hosts were willing to kill in their honor. One resident grumbled the Marines of the 2nd battalion 5th Marines never stayed long enough after dinner. Iraqis are very hospitable and dinner can last several hours and long into the night.
Of course, Ramadi was no cakewalk. In 2005, the Marines told of having to run during the entire patrol. A moving, erratic target made it harder for an eager sniper to pick off a Marine. That was a tough time for the 3rd battalion 7th Marines Kilo Company, as told by Cpl. Tar Po. Po was born in Burma. His family fled that Southeast Asian nation because of the political situation. Thanks to an aunt, the corporal's parents moved the family to California when he was just five years old. Po sailed through the school system until he hit a few bumps in his teenage years. "I was hanging out with the wrong crowd," said the corporal, in his early 20s. He participated in the JROTC to join the Navy, but decided to join the Marine Corps after meeting a gunnery sergeant who impressed him. "He kept me out of big trouble," said Po, who later confessed that he wanted to join the Corps to "blow things up." His teenage years were turbulent and the corporal still regrets putting his parents through so much grief. He joined the Marine Corps on an "open contract" and eventually became a 0311, "a grunt", a rifleman. Like many young men and women recruited during a time of war, Po had no illusions. Most of the people I spoke to in Iraq and Afghanistan had joined after the start of hostilities. They signed up during a time of war.
We were standing in Ramadi, the sun was beating down hot and we were in full battle rattle. After loading up the vehicle for a convoy we headed for the chow hall, a makeshift building where Marines served meals out of robust Mermite containers. It was going to be a long day. "I wanted to come to Iraq," said Po in a quiet voice that made him seem younger. Choosing to come to a war zone is difficult enough for war protesters back in Berkeley to understand, but it makes sense to any military recruiter. To Po's generation, the generation whose parents posted "Baby on Board" signs in their rear window, the idea of risk and danger are not only appealing, for the few, there is a yearning to rise to a challenge so as not to fall to mediocrity.
Po got his share of danger when on Oct. 11, 2005, while rolling down Michigan Avenue, his convoy was hit by a pressure plate IED. After such a severe injury, Po could have left the Marine Corps. He could have gotten out and no one would have blamed him. His scar was an impressive gash across his arm, there were marks from the needle surgeons had pushed in and out of his skin. But Po chose to go back. After only a couple of weeks in country, Po was injured again during a patrol. His arm was split open. Within hours, he was out of the country, on a military flight to Germany, at least that is what he was told. He actually doesn't remember much until he got back home to California. It's one thing to go into the "unknown" to test one's limits, this is the motive for many who seek adventure or just want to see what they can stand. It's quite another to be wounded seriously and head back to a war zone.
At home, Po spent much time recuperating, but rest wasn't always on his mind. "I really felt that I had let the other Marines down, like I wasn't doing my job."
The events that changed the corporal's life weren't strictly limited to his wounds. "I respect my parents more than ever, they were there for me the whole time. I'm sorry I put them through so much." After surgeries, therapy and much pain, the next question was obvious. "No, I've never regretted becoming a Marine. It's one of the best experiences of my life." Down the Bay from Berkeley, the Fremont Marine recruiting station is next to a shopping center, and just a stone's throw away from the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Station. This is an affluent area nestled near a chain of hills that run along the San Francisco Bay. If you visit the recruiting station, you'll see a few Marines hanging out with a couple of "poolees", young men and women who are about to join the Marine Corps. These are the ones who have passed the battery of tests that the majority of applicants will fail."Of every 10 people who are interested, only about three are qualified," said Staff Sgt. Felton C. Williams, the U.S. Marine Corps recruiter for the Fremont area. After completing the first part of the process, the screening, the poolees will become recruits at Marine basic training. Anywhere from 10 to 30 percent of those recruits will not finish the initial training.
Groups like Code Pink and The World Can't Wait shouted for a ban against the Marines and yet young men and women will seek out the Corps, looking for something they can't find elsewhere."It's business as usual. We aren't planning to move that office," Gunnery Sgt. Pauline Franklin said Monday. "We've been recruiting qualified men and women for 232 years. That's not going to stop now."
"We failed our city," said Gordon Wozniak, who was one of three council members who voted against the original declaration. "We embarrassed our city."
"It hurts to see what some of the people back home, saying the war is pointless," said Po wincing, the gash on his bare arm impossible to hide. It was a bright sunny day in Ramadi and we were about to convoy to a meeting at the city council. In fact, we were going near the road where Po was wounded. "They just don't know," said the corporal. If anyone had the right to complain about the presence of Marines in a city, surely it was this young Marine who was on his second tour.
Who will defend the citizens of Berkeley should they come to some danger? The answer is those same Marines who are willing to be wounded and still return to duty. After a couple of days and a bit of pressure, the mayor of Berkeley and most of his city council members have capitulated in defeat. Fortunately, as "intruders" the Marines are made of much tougher stuff. If the Marines were able to tame Ramadi, a city that was proclaimed the religious capital of al-Qaida in Iraq by members of that organization, the Marines won't be swayed by a couple of people protesting. Despite all the commotion about Berkeley, there was an upside to this story. "More people inquired about becoming a Marine officer," said Officer Selection Officer Captain Richard Lund with some hesitation. Not everyone who wants to become a Marine can, but those who do, like Cpl. Tar Po, truly are the few.
Posted by Three Soldier Dad...Chuck
.
Great article, hope this Marine stays safe this tour.
Red Flag 1
03-09-2008, 18:44
Dad,
Agree with Gypsy...great article, thanks for posting it. There are bright and shinning stars...even on the left coast. It just sucks that these Marines are stuck in an area that has not been able to develop a mindset beyond the 1960's. But they are Marines, and they still recruit quality folks.
RF 1
Joe Alderman
Bob Howard
Ernie Tabata
Abraham Lincoln
Roy Benavidez
O.F. Hayse
Leonard Hayse
Ron Ray
Bob Phillips
My ancestors who left Scotland in 1650 to come to America in search of a better life
My Father, considering the way and where he grew up, he did quite a job working on sowing the right seeds in his only son.
My Mother, for doing her best to understand the young man trying to grow up while Dad was away most of the time. She's quite an incredible lady.
My Wife, for putting up with my selfish hijinx for 4 1/2 yrs before I realized that the world doesn't revolve around me, and that she too, like my mother, is such an incredibly outstanding woman.
And of course I cannot leave out the Soldiers who put their lives on the line every day to ensure our freedoms, and those of many other nations across the globe. It's an honor serving with each and every one of you!!
Wishing you the best!
Mick
Psywar1-0
03-13-2008, 21:02
Joseph Brant
Ranger William Butler my first 1SG
3SoldierDad
03-14-2008, 15:29
Heroes as posted on Wikipedia
For actions occurring since the withdrawal of US forces from Vietnam in 1973, the Medal of Honor has been awarded only five times, all of them posthumously. The first two were earned by U.S. Army Special Forces Delta Force Snipers Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart and Master Sergeant Gary Gordon, who defended downed Black Hawk helicopter pilot Chief Warrant Officer Michael Durant and his crew during the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993.
Two others were awarded during the Iraq War: Army Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith and Marine Corps Corporal Jason Dunham. In 2005, a posthumous Medal of Honor was awarded to Sergeant First Class Paul Ray Smith for actions in Operation Iraqi Freedom; his medal was presented to his survivors. In April 2003, Smith killed over 50 Iraqis near Baghdad International Airport, while providing cover for an aid station full of wounded Americans.
On January 11, 2007, President George W. Bush awarded Marine Corporal Jason Dunham of Scio, New York, the Medal of Honor posthumously for his bravery in Iraq during a combat mission during which he threw himself on a grenade to save his fellow Marines during an action near the Syrian border in April 2004.
The most recent award of the Medal of Honor for operations related to the War on Terrorism occurred on October 22, 2007, when President George W. Bush presented the award to the family of Navy SEAL Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy for his actions in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2005.
May God bless these men and their families for their sacrifice - All five heroes.
Three Soldier Dad...Chuck
.
OPPORTUNITY
Edward R. Sill
This I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream:
There spread a cloud of dust along a plain;
And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged
A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords
Shocked upon swords and shields. A prince's banner
Wavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by foes.
A craven hung along the battle's edge
And thought, "Had I a sword of keener steel --
That blue blade that the king's son bears -- but this
Blunt thing -- !" He snapt and flung it from his hand,
And, lowering, crept away and left the field.
Then came the king's son, wounded, sore bestead,
And weaponless, and saw the broken sword,
Hilt-buried in the dry and trodden sand,
And ran and snatched it, and with battle shout
Lifted afresh, he hewed his enemy down,
And saved a great cause that heroic day.
Also let me be the first Marine here to say Chesty Puller.
3SoldierDad
03-25-2008, 07:04
War and Forgiveness
Wallstreet Journal
March 25, 2008
The veterans of World War II are now at that age where they are dying ever more frequently, and their deaths should be an occasion to remember their achievement and sacrifice. Take the heroism and remarkable forgiveness of Jacob DeShazer, a bombardier on the famous Doolittle raid over Japan of April 18, 1942.
The Doolittle bombing raid was close to a suicide mission, a one-way trip to bring the war to the Japanese homeland for the first time. Coming not long after Pearl Harbor and before the Pacific island victories to come, the raid was a huge boost to domestic morale. Corporal DeShazer was one of five crewmen on Bat Out of Hell, a B-25 aircraft that took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, dropped incendiary bombs over Nagoya, and then flew on to Japanese-occupied China, where the crew was forced to bail out.
DeShazer was taken prisoner, and was starved, beaten and tortured by his Japanese captors. For 34 of his 40 months in captivity, he was kept in solitary confinement. His pilot (Lieutenant William Farrow) and engineer-gunner (Sergeant Harold Spatz) were killed by firing squad. But DeShazer survived the war, was liberated after V-J Day in August 1945, and went on to get a degree in Biblical literature from Seattle Pacific College (now Seattle Pacific University). In 1948, he returned as a Christian missionary to the country that had nearly killed him, and he would continue his ministry in Japan for 30 years.
DeShazer died on March 15 at his home in Salem, Oregon, at age 95. It is one of life's safer bets that he is resting in peace.
-----------------
What a wonderful man.
Three Soldier Dad...Chuck
.