thank a hero: introduction

I yelled when my team beat their state rival in an edge of your seat game. I cheered when my team won the SEC Championships. I felt angry when they showed Tim Tebow crying at the end of a stressful game, even though he wasn’t on “my team”. I ran home when I suddenly remembered my team was playing in five minutes. I sat back two days ago to witness my team beat the Texas Longhorns in the BCS Championship game. I felt for Texas when QB Colt McCoy had to sit the rest of the game because of an injury to his shoulder/arm. I cheered for my team. The Alabama Crimson Tide had rolled across the Longhorns to a victory of 37-21. At least half the stadium cheered and screamed with me.

In today’s world of plasma flat screen TVs, football, and Super Bowl parties, we seem to have forgotten the real heroes in our country. When I mention the Crimson Tide, you think Mark Ingram. When I mention the Longhorns, you think Colt McCoy. When I mention Denver, you think Broncos. When I mention the Gators, you think Tim Tebow. And I could go on and on. But when I mention the United State’s Armed Forces, you think Pearl Harbor or D-Day. Why is it that the American people have forgotten today’s soldiers and today’s battles? Why is it that football stars are heroes, but our Military men and women aren’t?

But what is today’s definition of a hero? Is it the referees, who make fair football games a reality, or is it the player who makes a winning touchdown? Is it the everyday voters who choose the winner of America’s Got Talent, or is it the contestant? Is it the God who is worshiped Sunday, or is it the band who leads worship? Is it the Military men and women who throw themselves in harm’s way to keep our Nation safe, or is it the President of the United States? What really is the definition of hero?

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines a hero as 1) a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability, 2) an illustrious warrior, 3) a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities, 4) one that shows great courage, 5) the principal male character in a literary or dramatic work, 6) the central figure in an event, period, or movement, or 7) an object of extreme admiration and devotion.

Look at the Jonas brothers. What make them heroes? Fans’ extreme admiration and devotion. But look at our Armed Forces. They may not be treated as heroes, but certainly they fit at least two of the definitions of a hero — an illustrious warrior, and one that shows great courage. Why then do we not treat them as heroes?

Trying to watch the BCS Championship game two nights ago, I had to put the antenna on top of a stool (which was on top of a chair) just to get good reception. I then sat down, and promptly got up to get the hot dogs out of the oven. Finally I was able to sit down and stay down to enjoy the game; but you can’t just watch the game through. No, you have to sit through commercial after commercial. And what do a lot of the commercials tell us today? That the average American male is a brainless, chauvinist, child-killing war monger and that there is no way he is a hero; that’s left up to the women. But that’s not all! This theme even presents itself in the news and throughout TV talk shows! The average American person is being brainwashed whenever they turn on the TV. No wonder we no longer treat our Armed Forces as heroes.

What do you think? Are our Military men and women, who protect this country so that I can watch my Crimson Tide crush the Longhorns of a Thursday evening, a hero to you? Without our Armed Forces, we would probably all be speaking German. And what if the government decided this whole “freedom thing” was getting old and decided to make it a law that everyone become fans of the Texas Longhorns? I and a whole lot of others would be in a world of hurt. I don’t even look good in orange!

Take time today to thank a hero!

— Killeen Partridge