What Makes A HERO

[Gryphen]

After a comment in another thread, and numerous 'events' in the News over the last few decades, I suddenly thought why not ask the question.

What makes a Hero?

1. Is it surviving for days trapped in a mine.

2. Climbing into the very same mine, past collapsed walls that could further collapse at any second, to rescue someone trapped in the mine.




Part of the reason i ask, is that I get a bit pissed off at the media misusing the term hero, and beleive that on quite a few occasions the real Heroes fade into the background whilst 'Victims' are claimed to be heroes.

Your thoughts?

[azathoth]

1. Is it surviving for days trapped in a mine.[/b]

No.

2. Climbing into the very same mine, past collapsed walls that could further collapse at any second, to rescue someone trapped in the mine.[/b]

Yes.

HTH

[Jedi]

A little bit unrelated, one of my pet hates is the overuse of the word hero in advertising and the media. Especially IGA, working for a supermarket chain does not and will never make you any form of a hero.

[Gryphen]

Exacta mundo...

The misuse of the word detracts from its real meaning.

[Scaramouche]

Exacta mundo...

The misuse of the word detracts from its real meaning.[/b]

" A man never stands so tall when he stoops to help a child"...............

Dont care who wrote it, but its the best Ive heard, in my book any man or woman that meets that criteria is a hero first, last and always

[chief wiggum]

hiro




a hero to me is someone who will risk everything for someone else, without regard to their own personal welfare, and without a view to personal gain

[azathoth]

I think in the examples given, heroes are the ones who put their own wellbeing at risk for others, to help, to serve - selfless actions. Yes I feel sorry for the guys stuck in the mines, but they had no choice in the matter. Their resolve was not tested by being asked to do something noble or charitable, they just ran into some bad luck. Not heroes.

[foolishboy]

As an underground miner myself I think that if I was trapped underground for days or weeks and rescued I wouldnt see myself as a hero. But my Dad was a 10yr mines rescue volunteer and he only ever particpated in a few genuine emergencies but those guys are the real hero's. The guys that go back in to rescue their mates and bring them home are the hero's in my eyes. Takes a lot of guts to go in underground to fight an underground fire or even to try and get through a section of collapsed ground to hopefully find a survivor never knowing if thousands of tonnes of rock is gonna come down on you at the same time.

RESPECT!

[Gronk]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Gryphen @ Oct 5 2007, 04:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

1. Is it surviving for days trapped in a mine.[/b]

No.

2. Climbing into the very same mine, past collapsed walls that could further collapse at any second, to rescue someone trapped in the mine.[/b]

Yes.

HTH
[/b][/quote]

Have you ever been underground man?

I reckon you&#39;d be a hero for not going fucking bonkers and committing suicide after a few days if you were trapped, let alone what the beaconsfield two went through.

[thro]

Yeah, media&#39;s use of the term hero shits me.

To me, a hero is someone who helps or protects another for no personal gain, at risk to their own safety.


Yes, i&#39;m aware thats a fairly narrow definition, no your cancer sufferers, trapped miners, etc are not heros in my book. Nor are paid soldiers, going off to war in another country - they&#39;re mercenaries.

Hero = the guy stepping in to save your arse in a brawl, a guy defending his family from an intruder, volunteer firefighters, volunteer mines rescue, etc.


Wherever I mention the word "guy" i alternatively mean female too obviously...

[Cbr1k]

For me my heroes will always be the pointy end of the sword - our soldiers.

They will always have my awe and respect.

[GSXR Girl]

No disrespect to those who do go through some misfortune or tradgedy (even major - such as being stuck for days underground or going through cancer or choosing the armed services as a career and being required to go to war). They in my mind are deserving of respect for what they have had to experience and go through but it does not instantly make them a hero to me... this is not to say that they may not be.

I would agree that a hero is (as has been said several times) someone who will go out of their way to help another person, disregarding any possible risk to their own safety. Thus it is possible that the "victim" may also become a hero, however it means going something beyond being impacted by tradegy or misfortune in the course of your job or your life!

But this is of course just my opinion....

[Ben S]

Hero: distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength

[bibendum]

Yeah, media&#39;s use of the term hero shits me.

To me, a hero is someone who helps or protects another for no personal gain, at risk to their own safety.

Yes, i&#39;m aware thats a fairly narrow definition, no your cancer sufferers, trapped miners, etc are not heros in my book. Nor are paid soldiers, going off to war in another country - they&#39;re mercenaries.[/b]

So soldiers from WW1 and WWII that were paid but were stopping an invading army from marching across europe Are these soldiers Hero&#39;s as opposed to the occupying force currently invading Iraq or Afghanistan.?

[Gryphen]

I think that some times peoples actions/activities could be described as &#39;heroic&#39; but that in itself does not make them heroes.

"... most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice..." is part of the line from the description of why a Victoria Cross is awarded.

I think the comments regarding Soldiers "coz they are paid to go" is unworthy, being paid to go is one thing, but knowing how dangerous it is, and then still willing to go to do the job is worthy of respect, and is still a heroic act. The same can be said for any Police officer or Fireman, they are also paid to do their job, but they can all be heroes at times when they put themselves in harms way for others.

As to describing Soldiers as &#39;mercenaries" that is a shallow and demeaning remark.

A mercenary is a person who takes part in an armed conflict who is not a national of a Party to the conflict and "is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain"

I think anyone who has cancer, survives a terrible accident, survives agaisnt the odds etc can be heroic, and i would not want to be them, but they are not by these incidents alone heroes.

Neither are Sportsmen and women, it doesn&#39;t matter how big a game or how hard a game this should never garner them the title of Hero. It is just a sport after all.

To bandy around the term Hero so loosely I think demeans all those that quite rightly could be described as Heroes.

One part that really pisses me off, if I do a quick search on Google I could find the names of the miners trapped at Beaconsfield (Todd Russell and Brant Webb) but I can&#39;t find the name of the guy who went in spent hours scrambling through the collapse to take them water and a bit of food to help them survive.