Moral of the story…..a true “hero” is judged not by any one action, but by the sum of their actions and character. One moment of valor does not erase a lifetime of being an absolute tyrant.
Personal story: Back in college, I had a friend who used to entertain me at his parent’s house. While admiring his extensive collection of Beatle’s memorable in their basement, I noticed a display on the wall that had a Silver Star that his paternal grandfather had won for taking on a platoon of German soldiers, one of whom had a Panzerfaust.
“Your grandad must have been some guy.”
He looked at me non-plus.
“I hardly knew him. He was kind of an asshole, to be honest. Rarely ever said anything nice to me or anyone else. Don’t know why my dad put that there; while he was alive they hated each other. My grandma, though, she was nice. Her I actually miss.”
The hero or heroine who will face down the menace to his or her family, neighbourhood, city or country generally does not have to be evaluated for his or her personality defects first. All that is wanted at that moment is guts and bravery.
This is the problem with all memorials or statues. No matter what the person accomplished, whether heroism in warfare, national leadership, or outstanding achievement in any field, there will always be those who say that person shouldn’t be immortalised due to something that modern society deems to be wrong. Currently we seem to be going through a movement of removing statues of those whose beliefs or values ended up on the wrong side of history although they were deemed important enough to be memorialised by statues in the past. In Canada, where i’m from there have been recent steps taken to remove statues of early leaders because they embraced what were contemporary values regarding first nations that we now accept as being wrong and inappropriate. This is a travesty as it leaves nothing to honour those who founded our nation. Instead it would be more fitting in my opinion to post a plaque about their accomplishments, but include information about their values or decisions which have since become unpopular. This way their full legacy is presented so that people can learn about the positives and negatives of the individual presented in the monument / statue.
War heroes are not a particular kind of person. War heroes do not create themselves. They are created by people who want to have war heroes. This is probably an atavism going back to prehistory, when humans roamed around in small bands beating large animals and each other over the head with clubs. In order to organize such a band, apparently an alpha male is usually necessary so one must be found, for better or worse. Today, we’re still not out of the primeval woods, mentally speaking. Only our weapons have improved.
As for the misogynists here, if it weren’t for mothers, you wouldn’t exist; but everybody makes mistakes.
Ida No over 5 years ago
It didn’t help that the war hero had been swearing up a blue state.
Army_Nurse over 5 years ago
hindsight is 20/20…
The Brooklyn Accent over 5 years ago
Behind every successful man…
garcalej over 5 years ago
Moral of the story…..a true “hero” is judged not by any one action, but by the sum of their actions and character. One moment of valor does not erase a lifetime of being an absolute tyrant.
Personal story: Back in college, I had a friend who used to entertain me at his parent’s house. While admiring his extensive collection of Beatle’s memorable in their basement, I noticed a display on the wall that had a Silver Star that his paternal grandfather had won for taking on a platoon of German soldiers, one of whom had a Panzerfaust.
“Your grandad must have been some guy.”
He looked at me non-plus.
“I hardly knew him. He was kind of an asshole, to be honest. Rarely ever said anything nice to me or anyone else. Don’t know why my dad put that there; while he was alive they hated each other. My grandma, though, she was nice. Her I actually miss.”
Diat60 over 5 years ago
The hero or heroine who will face down the menace to his or her family, neighbourhood, city or country generally does not have to be evaluated for his or her personality defects first. All that is wanted at that moment is guts and bravery.
PoodleGroomer over 5 years ago
Major General Strom Thurmond.
theincrediblebulk over 5 years ago
This is the problem with all memorials or statues. No matter what the person accomplished, whether heroism in warfare, national leadership, or outstanding achievement in any field, there will always be those who say that person shouldn’t be immortalised due to something that modern society deems to be wrong. Currently we seem to be going through a movement of removing statues of those whose beliefs or values ended up on the wrong side of history although they were deemed important enough to be memorialised by statues in the past. In Canada, where i’m from there have been recent steps taken to remove statues of early leaders because they embraced what were contemporary values regarding first nations that we now accept as being wrong and inappropriate. This is a travesty as it leaves nothing to honour those who founded our nation. Instead it would be more fitting in my opinion to post a plaque about their accomplishments, but include information about their values or decisions which have since become unpopular. This way their full legacy is presented so that people can learn about the positives and negatives of the individual presented in the monument / statue.
Aladar30 Premium Member over 5 years ago
I don’t think that erecting a monument to a woman who married a man like that is a good idea too. But i can understand the sculptor.
Anarcissie over 5 years ago
War heroes are not a particular kind of person. War heroes do not create themselves. They are created by people who want to have war heroes. This is probably an atavism going back to prehistory, when humans roamed around in small bands beating large animals and each other over the head with clubs. In order to organize such a band, apparently an alpha male is usually necessary so one must be found, for better or worse. Today, we’re still not out of the primeval woods, mentally speaking. Only our weapons have improved.
As for the misogynists here, if it weren’t for mothers, you wouldn’t exist; but everybody makes mistakes.
WaterMainMan over 5 years ago
Nice guys don’t win wars. I’m a Vietnam Era Vet as well. Yeah, we sure weren’t getting thanked then.