Here's an example of a real hero...

[welder]

Thank god the Doctor was there and kept a level head , took the chance and it came out good for everybody.

Who cares what we call him , there is a young man that is ALIVE because of the Doctor.

You think boating is high dollar , you should see what it cost a Doctor to run a practice. here in the States some of the insurance premiums are more than most of us gross in a year.

Most of these doctors work [ Hands on ] with the sick , ill, bloody, slimy people day in and day out so might say they are putting their lives on the line every day they work but that might be a whole nether story.

Let's just be Thankful the young man was saved and be VERY thankful it wasn't your Son or Daughter .

[Menzies]

He's still not a hero.

What's your definition of a hero? And within that definition can a person legitimately be a hero to a single person and not to others?

[RI Builder]

What the man did certainly is admirable and he took a risk in doing. The ending turned out great for all parties. However, I agree with others, he is not a hero.

In fact, Menzies, the good doctor does not even fit your own definition of a hero.

To me a hero is someone that I admire because they did or are doing something over and above what they have to do or are expected to do.

The man is a doctor, he is expected to do everything in his power to try to save a persons life. The way I see it, the doctor did not do somethingover and above what he had to do, or what he was expected to do.

[Trollnheel]

Gaining momentum

[Mist-Rest]

Gaining momentum

I've made my post crystal clear. The same way I do my job. Nobody ever questions where they stand with me.

Now I'm getting a question from not getting a question answered. Sort of SSDD or is it SSDS? Perhaps they use the 24 volt model. Let me ask a friend if they have gone to using them yet and if they use the hammer feature.

Matter of fact I'm done with this topic. I think I'll join you in a cold one and grab a handful myself.

[rchanner]

I'm afraid I'm going to stick with Menzies on this one (and I've gone around with Menzies before....I think he knows that I don't support unless I agree) but the fact is that "hero" is a very subjective term. Did you write a report in the second grade naming your Dad as your hero, or at least know someone who did? Do you refer to a US Serviceman as a hero without regard to whether he has been exposed to the dangers of combat? How about a fireman that rushed into the WTC just before it collapsed? Was he just doing his job? Of course he was, but that's a job that regular people just don't do, isn't it?

Sometimes a hero isn't just defined by what he's done.....sometimes just what he's willing to do is enough. Would you rush into a burning building that didn't have a member of your own family in it? Would you risk your entire career and livelihood to drill a hole in a child's head in an attempt to save him, despite the fact that your education and experience say it's not the right way and you stand to lose nothing if you just say "I tried" but lose everything if you try and fail?

If you can honestly say yes to both of these questions (and not to the audience here on RB, but to yourself) then you most assuredly have the makings of a hero. If not, then you are just like the average member of society. I'm not saying that's bad, but it's not heroic, either.

[cataholic]

Must be a slow day in the ol' chatter room, seems to me.

[crash1371]

I read this over here from Rick great hero story .But They did call them selves hero's

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not sure we need to celebrate Memorial Day just one day a year. My Mom sent this and it's worth sharing. NOTE; read it during a quiet time or with your dog or such.

From Steve Jones, Wisconsin...

Each year I am hired to go to Washington, DC, with the eighth grade

class from Clinton, WI where I grew up, to videotape their trip. I

greatly enjoy visiting our nation's capitol, and each year I take some

special memories back with me. This fall's trip was especially

memorable.

On the last night of our trip, we stopped at the Iwo Jima memorial.

This memorial is the largest bronze statue in the world and depicts

one of the most famous photographs in history -- that of the six brave

soldiers raising the American Flag at the top of a rocky hill on the

island of Iwo Jima, Japan, during WW II.

Over one hundred students and chaperones piled off the buses and

headed towards the memorial. I noticed a solitary figure at the base

of the statue, and as I got closer he asked, 'Where are you guys

from?'

I told him that we were from Wisconsin. 'Hey, I'm a cheese head, too!

Come gather around, Cheese heads, and I will tell you a story.'

(James Bradley just happened to be in Washington, DC, to speak at the

memorial the following day. He was there that night to say good night

to his dad, who had passed away. He was just about to leave when he

saw the buses pull up. I videotaped him as he spoke to us, and

received his permission to share what he said from my videotape. It is

one thing to tour the incredible monuments filled with history in

Washington , DC, but it is quite another to get the kind of insight we

received that night.)

When all had gathered around, he reverently began to speak. (Here are

his words that night.)

'My name is James Bradley and I'm from Antigo, Wisconsin. My dad is on

that statue, and I just wrote a book called 'Flags of Our Fathers'

which is #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list right now. It is

the story of the six boys you see behind me.

'Six boys raised the flag. The first guy putting the pole in the

ground is Harlon Block. Harlon was an all-state football player. He

enlisted in the Marine Corps with all the senior members of his

football team. They were off to play another type of game. A game

called 'War.' But it didn't turn out to be a game. Harlon, at the age

of 21, died with his intestines in his hands. I don't say that to

gross you out, I say that because there are people who stand in front

of this statue and talk about the glory of war. You guys need to know

that most of the boys in Iwo Jima were 17, 18, and 19 years old - and

it was so hard that the ones who did make it home never even would

talk to their families about it.

(He pointed to the statue) 'You see this next guy? That's Rene Gagnon

from New Hampshire. If you took Rene's helmet off at the moment this

photo was taken and looked in the webbing of that helmet, you would

find a photograph... a photograph of his girlfriend. Rene put that in

there for protection because he was scared. He was 18 years old. It

was just boys who won the battle of Iwo Jima . Boys. Not old men.

'The next guy here, the third guy in this tableau, was Sergeant Mike

Strank. Mike is my hero. He was the hero of all these guys. They

called him the 'old man' because he was so old. He was already 24.

When Mike would motivate his boys in training camp, he didn't say,

'Let's go kill some Japanese' or 'Let's die for our country.' He knew

he was talking to little boys. Instead he would say, 'You do what I

say, and I'll get you home to your mothers.'

'The last guy on this side of the statue is Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian

from Arizona . Ira Hayes was one who walked off Iwo Jima . He went

into the White House with my dad. President Truman told him, 'You're a

hero' He told reporters, 'How can I feel like a hero when 250 of my

buddies hit the island with me and only 27 of us walked off alive?'

So you take your class at school, 250 of you spending a year together

having fun, doing everything together. Then all 250 of you hit the

beach, but only 27 of your classmates walk off alive. That was Ira

Hayes He had images of horror in his mind. Ira Hayes carried the pain

home with him and eventually died dead drunk, face down at the age of

32 (ten years after this picture was taken).

'The next guy, going around the statue, is Franklin Sousley from

Hilltop, Kentucky . A fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. His best friend, who

is now 70, told me, 'Yeah, you know, we took two cows up on the porch

of the Hilltop General Store. Then we strung wire across the stairs so

the cows couldn't get down. Then we fed them Epsom salts. Those cows

crapped all night.' Yes, he was a fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. Franklin

died on Iwo Jima at the age of 19. When the telegram came to tell his

mother that he was dead, it went to the Hilltop General Store. A

barefoot boy ran that telegram up to his mother's farm. The neighbors

could hear her scream all night and into the morning. Those neighbors

lived a quarter of a mile away.

'The next guy, as we continue to go around the statue, is my dad, John

Bradley, from Antigo, Wisconsin , where I was raised. My dad lived

until 1994, but he would never give interviews. When Walter Cronkite's

producers or the New York Times would call, we were trained as little

kids to say 'No, I'm sorry, sir, my dad's not here. He is in Canada

fishing. No, there is no phone there, sir. No, we don't know when he

is coming back.' My dad never fished or even went to Canada . Usually,

he was sitting there right at the table eating his Campbell 's soup

But we had to tell the press that he was out fishing He didn't want to

talk to the press.

'You see, like Ira Hayes, my dad didn't see himself as a hero Everyone

thinks these guys are heroes, 'cause they are in a photo and on a

monument. My dad knew better. He was a medic. John Bradley from

Wisconsin was a caregiver In Iwo Jima he probably held over 200 boys

as they died. And when boys died in Iwo Jima , they writhed and

screamed, without any medication or help with the pain.

'When I was a little boy, my third grade teacher told me that my dad

was a hero. When I went home and told my dad that, he looked at me and

said, 'I want you always to remember that the heroes of Iwo Jima are

the guys who did not come back. Did NOT come back.'

'So that's the story about six nice young boys. Three died on Iwo Jima

, and three came back as national heroes. Overall, 7,000 boys died on

Iwo Jima in the worst battle in the history of the Marine Corps. My

voice is giving out, so I will end here. Thank you for your time.'

Suddenly, the monument wasn't just a big old piece of metal with a

flag sticking out of the top. It came to life before our eyes with the

heartfelt words of a son who did indeed have a father who was a hero.

Maybe not a hero for the reasons most people would believe, but a hero

nonetheless.

We need to remember that God created this vast and glorious world for

us to live in, freely, but also at great sacrifice

Let us never forget from the Revolutionary War to the current War on

Terrorism and all the wars in-between that sacrifice was made for our

freedom.

Remember to pray praises for this great country of ours and also pray

for those still in murderous unrest around the world.

STOP and thank God for being alive and being free at someone else's

sacrifice.

God Bless You and God Bless America .

REMINDER: Everyday that you can wake up free, it's going to be a great day.

One thing I learned while on tour with my 8th grade students in DC

that is not mentioned here is . . that if you look at the statue very

closely and count the number of 'hands' raising the flag, there are

13. When the man who made the statue was asked why there were 13, he

simply said the 13th hand was the hand of God.

Great story - worth your time - worth every American's time

__________________

Rick

VOR Hooter Scooter

[Menzies]

Who needed thirteen hands, twelve were enough.

[welder]

Check this out , they say , NOT on the 13 hands .

http://www.snopes.com/military/sixboys.asp