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To be honest, I think they are heroes the day they sign up to do a thankless job like Fireman or Policeman.
I work for a big gas/elec utility so I've worked with Fire and Police many times. They are a different breed than the average worker. They dedicate their lives to other people's safety.
Sure they get paid for it and that is their job, but if they don't have a certain mindset and a certain team/selfless attitude they won't last long in their job.
I was out one night on a gas odor complaint, after 2 or 3 other people had been on this same street for the same issue. I checked and I checked and finally called for the Fire Dept to help. We found a house 1/2 block from the complain loaded with carbon monoxide. A house full of Hmong immigrants who couldn't speak the language. We saved their lives, they wouldn't have lived through the night because they were already sick. Those cops and fireman were so excited. You could see this is what they live for, to help other people. I felt pretty good about it too. We went over and above and saved some lives. But to them it isn't over and above, it's routine everyday.
Are astronauts heroes? Secret service agents? Nation Park Rangers?
I wouldn't say astronauts, no. Secret service agents, no - the actual risk to them is pretty small although I'm sure it's a stressful job. National Park Rangers - totally depends on their post, but yes in some circumstances. The Park Rangers that wander around the Liberty Bell, not so much.
And people think that those jobs are so glamorous and interesting, and sometimes they are. But most of the time, especially being a fireman in a big city is bull work. Go to a fire sometime and see what the firemen are doing, they are up on a roof tearing tarpaper and roofing off and throwing it in a pile. They are tearing insulation out of walls, it's hard work.
And all the time they have to be ready for a flare up or another call with a higher priority. These jobs are not just for anyone, most men couldn't handle it.
I agree. I tend to think of a hero as someone that will get a medal of honor. I think the word hero is overused, and that is where the confusion lies and therein the emotional attachment to the word and those we identify with it.
Yes! The term "hero" is vastly overused. Every time we turn around, someone is labeled heroic for doing things they were expected to do in the first place,
Yes! The term "hero" is vastly overused. Every time we turn around, someone is labeled heroic for doing things they were expected to do in the first place,
Yes, but you fail to see that if you aren't willing to sign up for it in the first place then these things won't be expected.
There are plenty of other professions that aren't so hairy and traumatic on the psyche.
In Boston (and numerous other situations), the police and rescue personnel were held to a higher esteem than they should have been. For what exactly? Doing what they are trained and paid to do??
The logic is simple:
If a person willfully engages in public service that involves certain levels of danger, and those persons take a paycheck and benefits to engage in that danger, then they shouldn't be held up as heroes.
In fact, if those persons refused to act or refused to show up in a time of need while getting paid, then most people would demand they be held accountable for their inaction. After all, they're getting paid and failed to perform their duties, right?
While we can and should appreciate that people choose these paid professions, its ridiculous to hold them up as heroes for doing their JOB.
The word "hero" is being used so much that it's becoming almost worthless. There are hero's in all the services you mention just like in the military BUT it used to be for doing something so far above and beyond to protect or help others that death or huge personal sacrifice is not even a thought that goes through the heroic persons mind.
Kind of like risking life and limb by falling on a grenade to save others or, like the SEAL in Afghanistan did by walking out in the open while himself gravely wounded knowing he would almost certainly be shot again, all to get sat service so he could call in help for the rest of his team.
He did complete the call and he did get shot multiple times killing him. That's a hero.
Firemen who ran into the World Trade Center knowing it wasn't going to be a good day and the ones that ran in to save them as the building started coming down. Those are hero's.
The word "hero" is being used so much that it's becoming almost worthless. There are hero's in all the services you mention just like in the military BUT it used to be for doing something so far above and beyond to protect or help others that death or huge personal sacrifice is not even a thought that goes through the heroic persons mind.
Kind of like risking life and limb by falling on a grenade to save others or, like the SEAL in Afghanistan did by walking out in the open while himself gravely wounded knowing he would almost certainly be shot again, all to get sat service so he could call in help for the rest of his team.
He did complete the call and he did get shot multiple times killing him. That's a hero.
Firemen who ran into the World Trade Center knowing it wasn't going to be a good day and the ones that ran in to save them as the building started coming down. Those are hero's.
I agree 100%. Certain actions can be heroic. With or without a uniform.
I agree. I tend to think of a hero as someone that will get a medal of honor. I think the word hero is overused, and that is where the confusion lies and therein the emotional attachment to the word and those we identify with it.
True. A hero is someone who goes above and beyond the call of duty.
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