The term" Hero" being used incorrectly.

[Audie Murphy]

I think my rant will get a few people butt hurt but here it goes.
I think the term "Hero", now a days, is being used to loosely. Back in my day, that term was used for people who had performed actions that most people would not do. Like carrying a wounded comrade miles so that he can be evacuated safely, leading an assault charge against an overwhelming force. Just because someone survives a tragedy doesn't make them a hero.

 

[Bunnykid68]

I agree

 

[rockhopper46038]

You're absolutely right.

 

[thoroughbred]

This is what the media does...

 

[RedneckReject]

I don't disagree, but I also think "hero" can mean different things to different people. Although I don't believe that simply "surviving" something automatically makes you a hero, I do think that there any many different things that can make a person one. I survived a horribly bad car accident. I really shouldn't be alive, let alone mobile. That doesn't make me a hero. My "dad" married my mother when I was 12 and took it upon himself to raise me as his own, love me as his own, and teach me everything he possibly could (even though I was a colossal brat). To me, he's a hero. I guess it's different for everyone.

 

[Sylvain]

 

[hoosierdoc]

Is there a particular story that brought this on? I agree with your sentiment.

 

[ziggy]

Audie Murphy (Interesting screen name!), you are right. Personally, I get sick of hearing every "first responder" referred to as a hero. Some are but most have done nothing to earn that title and it cheapens the term to use it so loosely.

 

[Frank_N_Stein]

Audie Murphy (Interesting screen name!), you are right. Personally, I get sick of hearing every "first responder" referred to as a hero. Some are but most have done nothing to earn that title and it cheapens the term to use it so loosely.

How do you know he's even referring to first responders?

 

[mrjarrell]

Water it down enough and everyone can be a hero, even for non-heroic actions. It's been going on for years. Everyone gets a trophy and no-one gets butt hurt. The media has run with this and both sides of the aisle are rife with false hero worship. Some firemen, cops and soldiers do heroic things, as do regular Joe's. But that doesn't make ALL of them heroes, just 'cause they do their jobs.

 

[jerryv]

I agree that the term gets misused, or overused in the media... especially regarding the survivors of tragic events. Even in the aftermath of the Boston bombing, people trying to help other people is human, it's kind, it's even brave .. but not heroic necessarily.

But I also think that it's a matter of degree .. and that a lot of people perform heroically on a daily basis .. sacrificing their own needs to take care of family and loved ones, putting other people first ... working hard, doing without ... day after day, year after year, and never drawing any attention to it. Anyone who does his/her best for no other reason than personal pride .. People who choose to live that kind of life have a heroic quality, to me at least. On a smaller scale, of course.

 

[Trigger Time]

How do you know he's even referring to first responders?

And here it goes again.

OP, I couldn't agree with you more. They called a doctor who worked in the trauma tent at the finish line a hero. they called the new england patriot football player who was carrying a wounded woman a hero. They called the MIT cop who got shot sitting in his car a hero without knowing any details of what happened.
The media loves to throw that term around.
It REALY waters it down for the true Hero's in my opinion.
The two IMPD cops who recently saved someone from a burning car, now that's a couple of Hero's to me. Just an example

 

[Frank_N_Stein]

And here it goes again.

It was a valid question, seeing how the OP didn't specify who he was referring to. Ziggy is the one that brought up first responders.

 

[Pyriel]

It's not necessarily always survivors or saviors who are referred to as hero's. Victoria Soto who was shot in the back and killed during the Newton massacre was also named a hero for her actions, even though she didn't manage to save any of the children that she was shielding.

 

[Trigger Time]

It was a valid question, seeing how the OP didn't specify who he was referring to. Ziggy is the one that brought up first responders.

Ok my bad Frankenstein, being serious.
I feel the same when its used on all military personnel too. It's just used too loosely. It's like Obama with his new drone medal that ranks higher than the bronze star or Purple Heart. A slap In the face to the real folks who earn it but don't ask for it.

 

[Frank_N_Stein]

Ok my bad Frankenstein, being serious.
I feel the same when its used on all military personnel too. It's just used too loosely. It's like Obama with his new drone medal that ranks higher than the bronze star or Purple Heart. A slap In the face to the real folks who earn it but don't ask for it.

I agree. I've heard those drone pilots get the same combat action accolades that the guys with boots on the ground get.

 

[Booya]

I also agree for the most part... However, our military and are first responder are a huge minority that are doing what most wouldn't by even taking the position they are in. Yes the term is over used and yes, many don't deserve it. But on the flip side of that, many of them do and even though they haven't pulled someone from a burning wreckage or something similar, they placed themselves in a situation where they were more likely to be in a dangerous situation then by watching the news and saying most hero's actually aren't. I'm not insinuating anyone here did that... Just saying.

 

[Audie Murphy]

Is there a particular story that brought this on? I agree with your sentiment.

I had seen a picture on Facebook with Bradley Cooper and the runner that had lost both legs in the Boston explosion. And there were a lot of comments by people saying that he was a hero.

Audie Murphy (Interesting screen name!), you are right. Personally, I get sick of hearing every "first responder" referred to as a hero. Some are but most have done nothing to earn that title and it cheapens the term to use it so loosely.

Yes I picked that screen name purposely. Audie Murphy, in my mind, is someone who embodies the true definition of the word hero. I was not talking about first responders. Though some have acted heroically in their roles as first responders.

 

[VN Vet]

Hero......Audie Murphy should know. He was a true hero indeed.

 

[jdmack79]

Audie Murphy (Interesting screen name!), you are right. Personally, I get sick of hearing every "first responder" referred to as a hero. Some are but most have done nothing to earn that title and it cheapens the term to use it so loosely.

How do you know he's even referring to first responders?

Frank, I think it quite obvious what ziggy was saying. He never even implied that was what the OP was referring to. Try actually reading instead getting butthurt.