Tag Archives: hero

Female heroes discovered!

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I had some interesting musings collide together which I think are worth writing about. Together they make for an interesting landscape, and a platform to promote a couple of Female Heroes right in the family! The other day I was thinking about female heroes, Matt Langdon’s Hero Workshop, and chats I had with with some family members.

Matt at HeroWorkshop reminds me that a hero is not some mythical being, but heroes live and breathe sitting or standing right next to me. Too often we just do not see them for what they are. Unfortunately, many of us have been programmed to replace true heroes with movie stars, gangsters, or band members.

I was talking with a family member who is trying hard to make positive changes in people’s lives by giving of herself, and her time. She meets and speaks with people who are lost and deserted due to personal circumstance. She is in there doing what she can, showing them there can be a better future if they choose it. This is a noble undertaking. This is awesome stuff. What a great thing to do to, and a great way to help others!

A second family member is a Case Manager for a very specialized group of people. She works in their life removing obstacles for them, and helping with problems they can not manage on their own. I am sure most of the people she helps appreciate what she does for them.

To some people, her career, or life choice may sound pretty ho-hum. And my writing about it just some yada, yada, as I fill in another paragraph. From my viewpoint, she has become a true hero! When I think of all the people she must have helped over the years…wow! I sure am proud of her, and now very mindful of what she is doing for others, making their life a little better, and helping their life go forward, which sometimes is no easy task!

I am as lazy as many others in the hero department. I throw a few bucks into the Salvation Army bucket at Christmas, and slip a few dollars to a homeless person now and then. I also donate some of my income to a few formal organizations. But as far as using myself as a tool to directly help make the lives of others better? I would do a better job herding cats across the prairie.

Everyone who chooses to take on a role of service to others is someone to be admired. Anyone can look good, or say something witty in front of a camera for a few seconds. For a few hundred dollars we can all look a little like the rich and famous for a few hours. I say a real hero in comparison is someone who climbs out of bed everyday, go to a job, or calling that not many people could do at all, let alone be any good at, and does what they can to make lives of others better.

At the end of the day these modern day female heroes know they are making a real difference in the lives of people who really need their help. Too many of us coming into direct contact with someone who really could use our help, we normally look away and pretend we do not see them. What these woman do almost every day serves to remind me, how big of a difference one person makes when they choose to. I sure am proud of these two women, and what they are doing! I hope others are too, and they let them know about it also.

I hope when you think about someone you know who chooses to serve others, you think about how they make important changes in people’s lives. What they do is not a dream job, and is probably heartbreaking and thankless at times. Yet they still get out of bed and do it the next day. Maybe you are one of these folks? If you are doing a service for others, be very proud, for you are a hero too!

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Find your right job

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There was a famous WWII American flying Ace, and Medal of Honor winner named Greg Boyington. I read his autobiography years ago so I doubt it gets much press today. What made Pappy Boyington unique was he was the Squad Leader of a group of misfit fighter pilots named the Black Sheep Squadron in the pacific. The Black Sheep Squadron as you can guess, was made up mostly of pilots who could not fit in a normal fighter pilot squadron. They had personality defects, or other problems that made them not play well with others.

Boyington took these men in and somehow he made them all work as a team. They worked so well as a team they became famous for their skill and daring in spite of themselves and their known lack of getting along with others. They were some of the most daring and most decorated fighter squadron in the pacific arena.

Pappy Boyington said something in his book that has stuck with me all these years. He was talking of his time as leader of his squadron. He would be drinking all night and somehow get himself into a plane and complete what was sometimes a very long and difficult mission. Some of the longest missions flown by any fighter pilots of that day. He wrote of how he would tie up is joy stick so his plane flew in a straight line as he napped and recovered from his hangover.

Boyington said he was accused of not having any self control during his military career. Pappy Boyington disagreed with everyone about that statement. Everyone else was wrong, and Boyington knew he was right. How can that be? How could Gramps Boyington who was a drunk, disrespectful, and a generally terrible example of an officer and leader possibly think he was right and the world was wrong?

As Pappy Boyington explained it in his book when he wrote, everyone was wrong because he had more self control than anyone he knew. Pappy Boyington said he had more self control than anyone he knew because, in his words (from memory), he did whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. He didn’t care who threatened him, or what they threatened him with. If he, Pappy Boyington wanted to do it, he did it.

Of course Boyington eventually settled down and became somewhat normal. Greg Boyington learned that trying to be normal took a lot more self control than being wild and crazy. During the war his iron will was victorious and he stepped into the role he was made for. Pappy Gramps Boyington was first a hero to his men, and eventually a hero to the whole United States!

There is a second more profound lesson here in the life and times of Greg Pappy Boyington. Pappy Boyington had the tight tools for the job. It just took Pappy Boyington some time to find out what the right job was! We all have our job to do. For some of us it just takes longer to find it than for the rest of us.

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Flu shots, one hero, and sheer terror

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As I stood in line for my flu shot today, I remembered an uncle who passed away several years ago. He had participated in WWII as a belly gunner in a bomber aircraft. He flew and landed at least three planes by himself, because his crew had been killed from either flak exploding around their plane, or fighter aircraft machine gun fire. He used to tell me in some detail how they cleaned out the plane, including draining the blood from the bodies that had pooled in the lower sections of the plane’s belly. Unfortunately for him, he saw a lot of death, and carnage during his time in the war.

My uncle had a funny secret, he was terrified of needles! He never submitted to a shot after his military service for over twenty-five years. I went with him to the doctor that day because he needed something that could only be given through a needle. When he saw the needle, he suddenly slumped and started sliding to the floor. He had passed out from fear! He had told me he was scared of needles, but I never believed him until then. A grown man, war survivor and hero, passing out from the sight of a needle, what a funny sight!

What a funny way to remember someone, and not very flattering to say the least. Every time I find myself in a flu shot line, or giving blood, I have the same humorous memory of my uncle slowly sinking to the floor. Only in my memory he is wearing his military uniform with his medals pinned on his chest that he never showed anyone while he was alive.

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