Posted on 06/30/2008 10:46:10 AM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
No, but it does make you a patriot.
A hero is someone who goes above and beyond the call.
...and one who suffers greatly as a patriot (both famous and unknown): i.e. Nathan Hale, Maj. Gen. Joshua Chamberlain, Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, Lt. Col. John MaCrae, Sgt. Daniel Daly, USMC; Audie Murphy, and also John McCain.
I beg to differ. Enlisting in the US Military in any Branch and regardless of being placed in a combat zone makes you a true hero in my book.
By doing so you have put the freedoms and liberty of all Americans above your own.
At anytime you wear a Military uniform you could be placed into a combat situation.
You earn precious few dollars to obtain the contempt of the American Media and about half of American Politicians and Government.
You earn the right to work long hours, not know what holidays are. You also earn the right to be criminally charged for doing your job..
You earn the right to have a flag given to your family when you give your life for the defense of freedom and liberty for millions of people that would not give you the time of day if they passed you in the street and you were in uniform.
In the past month I have attended 2 funerals as a flag bearer and escorter of young men that gave their lives fighting in the Terrorist War. I have another one later this week.
Its is not that these young men are dead that they are heroes. Its that they willing risked there lives to protect my family and my families freedoms. They would have been heroes to me if they had survived and gotten back home to their families safely.
People forget that Clark was the Commander in Charge of the assault on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco. He was run out of the Army for various reasons, and he surfaces by comparing himself to McCain? He is not worthy of tying McCain’s shoes.
Well put. Thank you.
I suggest you take your head out of your butt for a moment and consider a few points aside from the 'semantics' on the definition of the word 'hero.'
Point #1. Anyone who 'volunteers' to strap on a military fighter jet as a chosen profession has some serious guts. War or no war, those machines are very unforgiving and will kill you in a moment if you do not show them all due respect. They are not at all like playing the NASCAR experience.
Point #2. Double the guts factor for anyone either brave or insane enough to volunteer to operate that same treacherous machine off and back on to the pitching deck of a carrier.
Point #3. After being man enough to accomplish both points #1 and 2, now get in that dangerous machine, fly it off that dangerous deck and take it into the most heavily defended air space in the world where people who have demonstrated great skills in shooting down aircraft are trying to kill you just as they have also killed many of your closest friends.
I'll allow you to sit in your armchair and define the word hero and I don't really give a damn what definition you come up with. I'm more interested in people who have shown the guts to put themselves in harm's way for a greater cause.
He says he did...but I'd take that with a grain of rice... ; )
Uh. Yes.
I think.
People forget that Clark was the Commander in Charge of the assault on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco. He was run out of the Army for various reasons, and he surfaces by comparing himself to McCain? He is not worthy of tying McCain’s shoes.
To the credit if Kerry, he and everybody else who served in Vietnam passed up the safe haven of Canada available to those who loved their precious hide more than their country.
And thanks to Carter, the biggest cost the Canada option entailed has been taken away.
I know I don't give a rats keyster what she says. I was not in Vietnam, but I was trained by people who were. They have been and always will be my heroes.
And may I add that Medea Benjamin is welcome to sit down and shut up anytime she wants.
God bless all of our Heroes who served in Vietnam. 
I am a Vietnam Era Veteran (Navy, never on shore), and i can tell you it is a miracle that he never had his a$$ fragged. He epitomizes the selfish attitude of elitist officers of that era, while McCain, whether you agree with his politics or not, put his life on the line, and stood up for his fellow servicemen. I may be a little too critical of Clark, but I know his type...he doesn’t give a damn for his fellow servicemen, but, like Kerry, has no problem taking advantage of other people’s bravery for political gain. I can tell you, as one that has put his life on the line on more than one occasion, it is not a sense of patriotism or romanticism that drives men to do heroic deeds, but a sense of not letting down your fellow brothers in combat—that is the driving factor—ask your uncle. The problem I have with Clark is that in my opinion, he could care less about his fellow servicemen.
Ditto that comment Ditto!
Do you like Kitties?
Welcome to FR. What wars have you seen?
..and there is the rub.. you are basing your definition of hero on myth, not on real people doing real, extraordinary things.
Ah jeez.
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