Jeff Cooper on Heroism
May 2006 - "We talk a lot about heroes and heroism today. 
In doing so we denigrate the term. Heroism, properly speaking, is rare. Everybody I knew in World War II fought because he wanted to, but, of course, combat duty does not necessarily involve death. That it involves the chance of death in the line of duty is perhaps commendable, but it is not heroic. The phrase 'above and beyond the call of duty' is indefinable since anything that you can do is what you should do. Lord Nelson defined the heroic death at Trafalgar. He was convinced--correctly--that his wound was mortal. As he lay there on the deck, his repeated words were, "Thank God I have done my duty!' He fought because it was his duty to fight, and he died doing his duty. This is heroism."
In doing so we denigrate the term. Heroism, properly speaking, is rare. Everybody I knew in World War II fought because he wanted to, but, of course, combat duty does not necessarily involve death. That it involves the chance of death in the line of duty is perhaps commendable, but it is not heroic. The phrase 'above and beyond the call of duty' is indefinable since anything that you can do is what you should do. Lord Nelson defined the heroic death at Trafalgar. He was convinced--correctly--that his wound was mortal. As he lay there on the deck, his repeated words were, "Thank God I have done my duty!' He fought because it was his duty to fight, and he died doing his duty. This is heroism."Labels: Heroes, Jeff Cooper
posted by Xavier at 6:57 PM
1 Comments:
Definitely one of my heros...the last hero standing is Chuck Yeager.
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