Jack William Bell's Journal: Remembering Heroes

hero n. pl. heroes

1. A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life: soldiers and nurses who were heroes in an unpopular war.
2. In mythology and legend, a man, often of divine ancestry, who is endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for his bold exploits, and favored by the gods.
3. A person noted for special achievement in a particular field: the heroes of medicine. Celebrity.
4. The principal character in a novel, poem, or dramatic presentation.
5. A sandwich made on a long roll.

Heroes. Sometimes I think heroes that meet the first definition above surround us. Commonplace heroes like the single parents who work, go to school to better themselves and still find time to help with the little-one's homework. Heroes of conscience who risk their jobs (and sometimes more) to speak out when others remain guiltily silent. Uniformed heroes in police cars, fire stations and on the battlefield; ready to risk their very lives for the rest of us. And, most traditionally heroic of all, those who would take great risks in order to explore, to extend the frontiers of humanity. These, in fact, might also meet the second definition.

Yet we tend to ignore these heroes, worshipping instead those that qualify for the third definition; 'Celebrity.' How sad. How sad that it takes a 9/11 to remind us of the fire fighters and police we take for granted. How sad that it takes the video of a fireball in the sky to remind us of our explorers. Oh, those who died as the Columbia broke up are heroes. No doubt. And they will be remembered as such over the next few days. That is, when we aren't looking to assign blame or nattering about stopping such risky exploration altogether. Sad they died yes, but far more sorrowful that many will use their memory in ways those brave men and women would violently disagree with. Heroes know the risks you see, and accept them. That is one of the qualities of being a hero.

At first I didn't want to post anything about the Columbia disaster. What could I add? Everyone is talking about it. Everyone has something to say. In all the teaming millions on the Internet someone is bound to make any point that I would, and probably make it better. Besides, I feel this loss all to personally for someone that never met any of them. You see these are my heroes!

And I grieve enough that words were difficult to find at first...

Glenn Reynolds thinks we should 'Mourn and move on.' He also points out that many will make political hay out of 'Smoking Guns' when that isn't the real issue at all. As I said, they knew the risks.

And what are those risks? Historically not bad at all, since 1981 there have been more than one hundred shuttle flights, of which two were lost. Two out of a hundred. Vasco Da Gama lost one out of four ships (and far more crew than has been lost in space exploration to date) on his first major voyage around Cape Horn. Christopher Columbus lost one out of three ships his first time out. Ferdinand Magellan lost four out of five ships and died himself circumnavigating the globe. I can go on, but the catalog of those lost exploring is long and I want to keep this short.

As I said, words are difficult to find, and others are saying them better anyway. I have only this to add to the conversation: Yes, we should mourn and move on, but we should never forget. Explorers have always been the greatest of heroes, boldly stepping out into the unknown and making it the known. All too often dieing along the way. We honor their memory best by continuing the quest they lost their lives for. Anything else is disrespectful to the extreme.