As the election approaches and we consider the challenges facing our country, along with the hoopla that Big Media attaches to anything it considers to be of paramount importance, we try to remember to keep things in perspective. That leads us to a question: Who are the real heroes? As an example, here are some names to ponder.
Which of these are “heroes”?:
Sean Penn or Jason Dunham?
Susan Sarandon or Ross McGinnis?
Michael Moore or Michael Monsoor?
George Clooney or Paul Smith?
We know most of you must know the first of those four sets of names. Of course. What about the second set of the four? Can’t place them? We’re sad to say, neither could we.
Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon, Michael Moore and George Clooney all have some things in common. All four are in the entertainment business, three of them being actors and the other a producer. All four are liberals, and probably all four can fairly be called part of the “far left.” All four are very wealthy individuals who have made a lot of money, thanks in no small part to the American people who have gone to their movies, watched their shows, or bought DVDs in which they were involved. Because of that wealth and position, all four live a standard of living unknown to the other four listed above, and unknown to most of us.
All four have had unkind things to say about the president, and a couple of them have said derogatory things about their own country. One of them, Sean Penn, lauded the president of Venezuela as if he were some kind of forward-thinking, benevolent leader, instead of the tyrannical, America-hating dictator that he really is. Another, Michael Moore, had the gall to present Cuba’s health system as something we should envy in the U.S. As they say on TV, “don’t try this at home.” If you actually think he was right about that, please resist the urge to travel to Havanna for your next surgical procedure. We suggest you stay in the U. S.
All four are undoubtedly supporters of Barack Obama for president, though that is not the point of this exercise. All four are “celebrities” and can often be seen at the Academy Awards show or other presentations frequented by the Hollywood crowd. All four receive adulation and fawning from various members of the media.
How about the other four, the four you and we don’t know?
They have some things in common as well. All four were in the U. S. military and served their country. All four served in Iraq. All four died in Iraq. All four died to save fellow soldiers in Iraq. Other soldiers are alive today because all four of those gave their own lives to save them. All four died as young men, before their time, years younger than the other four listed above are now. All four gave their lives for your freedom, our freedom, and the freedom of the other four. All four will never have the chance to grow old, yet have left a legacy much deeper than the famous four.
All four are the four Congressional Medal of Honor recipients from the Iraq war.
None of the four were “celebrities.” All four, however, are heroes.
Corporal Jason L. Dunham, U. S. Marine Corps, died on April 14, 2004, after diving on a grenade thrown by an insurgent, saving at least two fellow Marines.
Private First Class Ross A. McGinnis, U. S. Army, died on December 4, 2006, after he threw his body on a fragmentation grenade thrown by an insurgent, saving the lives of four fellow soldiers.
U. S. Navy Seal Michael A. Monsoor, died on September 29, 2006. After an insurgent’s grenade bounced off his chest and landed in front of him, Petty Officer Monsoor instantly threw himself onto the grenade and saved the lives of his two teammates, even though he was the only one who could have escaped the blast. Instead, like his fellow Medal of Honor recipients, he gave his life for his friends.
Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith, U. S. Army, died on April 4, 2003, after manning a .50 caliber machine gun in an exposed position, and in total disregard for his own safety, held off a company-sized enemy force which had attacked he and 100 other U.S. soldiers, which helped defeat the attack and allowed the safe withdrawal of numerous wounded fellow soldiers. Sergeant First Class Smith died in that battle.
Jesus said, “greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” The four Recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor from the Iraq war did just that. They laid down their lives for their friends. At young ages, with so much left to live for, and with families and friends who miss them dearly. They also laid down their lives for you and us, people they didn’t know, even if we fail to recognize their names or cherish their ultimate sacrifice.
Though we don’t care for the far-left politics and diatribes that the four from Hollywood listed above have regularly aired before the American public, we do not intend them any disrespect in stating that they are not heroes. They are celebrities, at least to some of us. Most definitely, they are not heroes, not like those other four.
The list could go on and on. Pamela Anderson or Todd Beamer? No, she’s not a hero, though she has gotten a lot of “face time” from the media. But Todd Beamer and his fellow passengers on Flight 93, who gallantly kept the terrorists on that flight from accomplishing their intended mission? Yes, they are heroes, for sure.
How about those who were running up the stairs at the Twin Towers on 9/11, the firefighters and police trying to rescue the stranded, when common sense would have told them to run back down those stairs and try to save their own skin? You think the cast of a network show compares to them? No, of course not.
So, the next time you pick up some magazine that has a celebrity on the front cover, or see an awards show on the tube, with actors and actresses parading before an adoring crowd, remember something, would you? They are not heroes. Not even close.
On the other hand, there are any number of “anonymous” people among us, be they members of our military, police and fire personnel, teachers, coaches, volunteers, nurses, ministers, relief workers, and countless others of many descriptions, all of whom are heroes. And, for the most part, not a “celebrity” in the bunch. The people those heroes’ actions touch directly, they know who they are. The rest of us are too often not mindful of their selfless acts.
We don’t mean to demean Democrats or their nominee for president by saying this, but there is no doubt to us that Senator John McCain is a hero. That in and of itself does not qualify him for the presidency. But, we know that his character and sacrifice give him a solid perspective in facing the challenges and dangers before our country today.
So, we ask that you pray for the families of these brave ones who gave all, and the families of all those others who have also given their lives in service. Pray also for brave soldiers like Lt. Clint Harris, USMC, and his fellow troops serving in Afghanistan, and his family. Pray for all those serving or who have served in Iraq, such as Gen. Jeff Hammond, and their families as well, who also are giving and sacrificing while their loved ones are gone, protecting our freedom.
Let’s try to remember. A hero might become a celebrity, though most do their service unnoticed by the public at large. Otherwise, save for the rarest exception, celebrities are not heroes.
We are made in God’s image. That is why young men and women in our armed forces die in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere for freedom. They have given their lives for not only their own fellow Americans, but also for those in places they don’t even know, aren’t related to, and haven’t even met.
Those that have died in service, those who have been injured, and those who have come home safe and sound have all done what they did whether appreciated for it or not. They have sacrificed so greatly even for the ungrateful, including spoiled brats who think the world waits on them and that they are the ones who are so important, including the famous and infamous.
Talk about irony. The “anonymous” serving and dying for the rest of us, including those who would as soon spit at our servicemen and women than salute them for their sacrifice, which for some meant giving all they had to give.
Those who gave the ultimate sacrifice give a glimpse of God’s love and character. No greater love than this, than a person lay down his or her life for their “friends”–and for those they don’t know and for those who would not want to know them and might even scorn them. Police and fire personnel also live with a lack of respect and appreciation, if not scorn, from too many. Yet they are so often heroes, even to those they don’t know. The memory of those brave ones running up the stairs at the Twin Towers to try and save others they didn’t even know should never, ever be forgotten or taken for granted.
God is like that, we believe. He loves each of us, even though we, through lives not lived to their fullest or for the wrong purposes, too often take our blessings for granted, or scorn Him and this love, though He also made the “ultimate sacrifice” for us.
Those who gave so much are the real heroes. God is a hero. The ones who get the most “face” time on TV or movie screens or in celebrity magazines, or to whom the media fawns over every move? They are not, not for those reasons. Not even close.
The real heroes are not “anonymous.” Not to those who know and love them. Or to those touched by them. And, most of all, not to God Almighty.
Celebrity or hero?
God, give us wisdom to know the difference, and true thankfulness for those who give their all for all of us, sacrificing the very lives that the rest of us take for granted. Let us never forget who the real heroes are among us. Amen.
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