By Edwin Cooney
Someone asked me the other day if I thought Edward Snowden,
the latest famous or infamous Washington D.C. whistleblower, is a hero. To my friend’s inquiry I had to plead
ignorance. My knowledge of what he
has recently done was sketchy and even after doing a smidgen of research, I’m
still unclear in my mind as to the purposes, motives or ultimate results of his
action. Certainly Mr. Snowden has
risked, as do genuine heroes, his reputation with some pretty powerful people
I’d be reluctant to inconvenience let alone anger. However, whether that risk was for gain or for more noble
purposes is the ultimate question.
If he blew his whistle over concern for your and my personal privacy,
he’s definitely a candidate for heroship.
The civil libertarian part of me says “maybe he’s the real McCoy,” the
patriotic and watchful part of my being says “wait a while!”
Generally speaking, a hero is one who risks his or her
reputation, well-being, or both to save a life or lives, sustain or advance a
noble cause or to prevent physical, emotional or societal disasters.
I’ve had heroes all my life. In my youth, they had such names as J. Edgar Hoover (who
kept America safe from gangsters and Communism), Douglas MacArthur (who I then thought was heroic to
publicly challenge President Truman’s limited war policy in Korea), Elvis
Presley (who dared to defy traditional musical rules and mores as he became
rich and famous), a host of great professional baseball players (most, but not
all of them, New York Yankees) whose skill, strength and daring won World
Series, American astronauts named Sheppard, Grissom and Glenn, et al. (who
risked their safety by being shot into space by powerful rockets for America’s
continuing world superiority and national security), and politicians named
Nixon and Goldwater -- who ran for president while defending unpopular
political principles. Many of
these people, although not all of them, are still heroes or at least favorites
of mine. Others have dimmed in my
regard like the Lone Ranger, Jack Webb, and Matt Dillon (as played on radio by
William Conrad). Still others such
as the early astronauts, with the addition of Neal Armstrong, Buzz (Edwin)
Aldren, Michael Collins and the ill-fated Challenger crew of January 1986,
remain heroic to me. Since the mid
1970s, Hubert Humphrey, Jimmy Carter, and Barack Obama have joined my personal
pantheon of heroes.
Of course, my heroes may be your political, sports or
cultural opponents. For most of
us, George Washington was a freedom fighter, but to the British, George
Washington wasn’t man enough to come out and fight, preferring to make the
gallant British forces led by generals Howe, Clinton and Cornwallis chase him
all over the North American continent thereby bringing on exhaustion,
increasing British debt and ultimately victory for their “subjects” in the
thirteen colonies. The Civil War
blurs heroism even more. My heroes
might be Lincoln, Grant and even Sherman, but for millions of modern day Republican
Party patriots, Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee are names that stir the
hope that one day, the South may rise again – as if such a wish were somehow
patriotic. I may have some
admiration for Ronald Reagan and even some for George H. W. Bush, but their
goals and principles are sufficiently different from mine to make distant
admiration the limit of my regard for them.
I suppose the question you might ask is: “What is the value,
if there is any, of having heroes?”
I believe there is a wealth of information and opportunity for you and
me when we allow ourselves to admire those who dare to dream and ultimately
accomplish feats that benefit us all.
Some “hero worship” may on the surface appear to be trivial such as that
of athletes or of other entertainers.
However, if such “hero worship” inspires someone enough to escape
childhood poverty for financial and personal success in adulthood, then it has
ultimate value.
Former major league pitcher Mike Marshall was said to have
often refused to sign autograph books of kids who couldn’t show him that among
the autographs in such books were those of their parents, teachers, and perhaps
clergy.
Some of our greatest national heroes had heroes of their
own. Young Abraham Lincoln
idolized Henry Clay and Daniel Webster.
John Glenn and Neal Armstrong were said to have admired the Wright
brothers and Charles A. Lindbergh.
President Obama has been open in his genuine praise and love for
Lincoln, and Jimmy Carter has striven to live his life in accordance with the
teachings of Christ.
It’s my guess that most people would be hard pressed to
identify twenty-first century American heroes, so I thought I’d offer a list
from which you might build an even longer one of your own: The terrorist attacks of 9/11 produced
a host of heroes from the passengers aboard United Airlines flight 93 to the
firefighters, police officers, and plain citizens who attempted to rescue the
occupants of the World Trade Center; and the special forces that saved lives
and eliminated Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan on Monday, May 2nd,
2011; Wesley Autrey, the New York
City construction worker who, on Tuesday January 2nd, 2007, saved
the life of Camron Hollopeter who, while in the midst of an epileptic seizure,
fell onto the tracks of a New York subway train; US Airways flight 1549 Captain
Chesley Sullenberger, who safely set his damaged aircraft into the icy Hudson
River saving the lives of 150 passengers and four other crew members on
Thursday, January 15th, 2009; and the countless citizens who
assisted in recovery and rebuilding efforts in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina
and Sandy in 2005 and 2012 respectively.
Heroes live everywhere and perform acts of love for you and
me. They may not all risk their
safety or enhance their reputations, but they certainly make our lives easier
and very worthwhile.
I began by asking if you’ve got a hero and hoping that you
have one. I’ll end by asserting
that if you know a hero that’s even better!
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY
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