On Tuesday, Edward Cantrell, 36, a decorated Green Beret home from his fifth deployment to Afghanistan, gave his life trying to save his young daughters, 6-year-old Isabella and 4-year-old Natalia, who were trapped in their burning house near Ft. Bragg, his home base. Cantrell and his wife had managed to escape from the house but the Chief Warrant Officer 2 went back into the burning structure when he realized his daughters were still inside. All three perished.
On Friday in Henryville, Indiana, Stephanie Decker, 36, lost one leg above the knee and the other above the ankle while acting as a human shield to protect her 8-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter from the ravages of a tornado. With the approaching storm, the mother hustled her two children into the basement of their home, wrapped them in a blanket and threw her body on top of them as the two-story brick house was completely destroyed. Both children survived without a scratch.
I have long been incensed over the loose way the word ‘hero’ is thrown around.
Muhammad Ali has been called a hero over and over again, but in 1967, during the Viet Nam War, he refused induction into the U.S. Armed Forces when he was drafted. Ali refused to serve in the military because of his ‘religious beliefs’ and his opposition to the war.
O. J. Simpson was recognized as a hero when he was playing football. He did not lose that title until after he stabbed his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ronald Goldman to death. Wow, it must have taken a lot of courage for him to attack his two defenseless victims.
Even golfer Tiger woods is considered a hero by his fans. How can you be a hero for whacking a ball around with a club? Now for those guys who like to cheat on their wives, you could say Tiger was a hero – after all, he fucked at least 16 women while he was married until his beautiful Swedish blonde wife caught onto him.
To top it off, numerous Hollywood celebrities have been called heroes for the charitable work they have done or for any number of causes they have taken up.
Let’s get one thing straight!: A hero is someone who will risk his life for his country, his community or to save the life of another. Our combat troops are heroes. Our police officers and firefighters are heroes. People who risk their lives trying to save the lives of others are heroes, but not athletes or Hollywood celebrities, unless they did something truly heroic.
Yesterday on The Today Show, Matt Lauer called Stephanie Decker’s neighbor a hero for saving her life by tying a tourniquet around her severed leg, and he went even further by calling others heroes for coming to assist in her rescue. But her neighbor and the others were not risking their lives at the time.
Edward Cantrell gave his life trying to save his children. Stephanie Decker risked her life trying to save her children. Now, those two are TRUE heroes! Muhammad Ali, O.J. Simpson, Tiger Woods and Hollywood celebrities are NOT heroes.
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