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Posted on 10/29/2001 5:03:44 AM PST by Fearless Flyers

I’m no hero, it is easy to take a stand for things you believe in at least for me it is. The wounds of humiliation cut deeper and take longer to heal, then a knife wound in the gut. If there were any heroes from the Freeper vs. Sheep confrontation in Miami on the 27th of October, they are my parents and the members of Flight 93, those passengers gave the ultimate sacrifice to defend their countrymen, who’s faces they never knew. It was their memory that made the sheep shame themselves. Without their memory all of my shouting and screaming would have fallen on deaf ears and I would just have been another fool in the crowd.

My parents especially my Father would have to be considered another hero of that day, with out his strict compassionate guidance in my upbringing, I would not have the values I have today. My Dad is a WWII Navy Veteran who served on an LST in South East Asia, he doesn’t talk much about the horrors they faced, but I have the feeling those horrors directly effected how he struggled to raise six children. He taught us when we start a fight we finish no matter what the odds. He taught me you have to speak out when you see things that are wrong, otherwise people may not be aware of the problem.

When I was in 3rd grade I got in fight with some of the neighborhood kids on my family’s front lawn, I was out numbered and taking a real beating. When I tried to retreat into the front door of our house, my Dad blocked the way, locked the screen door, and said. “You have to learn to finish what you start son.” I went back and took my lickin, and then got a wippin for takin a lickin. The fight was in defense of harassment towards my little sister, who is totally deaf, nobody from that neighborhood ever picked on her again. My Dad did not teach me it was wrong to fight that day. He taught me you have to choose your fights carefully and when you make that choice the only acceptable outcome is victory. I wasn’t wrong to defend my sister I was wrong for being willing to accept defeat and not taking the time to devise a winning strategy. That is why I took the wippin and it is a lesson I never forgot.

Had my Father opened the door for me in my retreat from a fight he new I couldn’t win, there is no telling how long my humiliation of that defeat would have lasted, but I have no doubt my sisters humiliation in that neighborhood would have lasted a life time. My Dad made sure that this lesson was not only learned to defend my baby sister, but it also extended towards defense of anyone who might be unfairly disadvantaged. I never accepted cruelty of other children towards the disadvantaged as I was growing up and I never lost another fight over it either.

I appreciate the encouragement from all my fellow Patriots and Freepers, but let us not forget the who the real heroes are. I was only doing my duty, if any anything it was out of fear of our Proud Nation being humiliated. There are people that will be facing off directly with the terrorist in Battle, please let us reserve hero status for those brave men who will be tangled in real danger. I’m just a person who is afraid to be humiliated by remaining silent.

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