The Definition of a Hero

A snappy, appreciative salute to all heroes everywhere.

http://delsjourney.com/uss_neosho/aftermath/bush_speech_ph_1991.htm

"...You've gotta understand there's all kinds of heroes, but they never get a chance to be in a hero's position." We salute you today Lt. Finn along with all your compadres both on that day and every day.

December 7th is a date that has always resounded with shock and dread, the worst date ever until 9/11. I was not alive for 12/7 but raised on its impact.

We have many heroes here in our Village, perhaps its safe to say that we are all heroes. I think it would be a good thing to start each day remembering that we are surrounded by heroes and that by saluting the Lt. Finns we are not only thanking them but acknowledging all of the heroism we are blessed to witness and receive the benefits of.

This Day of Infamy should be better remembered as the Day of Heroes.

100 posts today to honor a man who lived 100 years, a darn tootin' rip snortin' aw shucks son of a machine gun guy next door who thought being a hero just meant stepping up to the plate when it was your time at bat. That is why America is great. Go Johnny go! Overheard on the parking ramp..."Uh Oh...they done went and shot him and pissed him off. Now they gonna be real sorry."

Chef Deb ~ A beautiful tribute to those heroes acknowledged and unacknowledged.  Sometimes we forget in our day to day challenges.  Thank you for remining us.

reminDing - reminding -- really have to read this stuff before I click send and send and send

Courage: Doing what you need to do despite fear.  A man without fear is an idiot.  A man who lets his fear rule him is a coward.  I expect Lt. Finn's adrenaline was running high that day, but he more than stood his ground.  Yes, there are many heroes.  But he was one of the special ones.
Lynn
Formerly, 1st Lt., Military Intelligence, U.S. Army
Hqs. XXIV Corps, Phu Bai Combat Base, Vietnam

This is heroism on a grand scale.   Not to demean what Finn and many others did on that Day of Infamy, by any means, but physical heroism occurs in a smaller way each day. I once watched, paralyzed by fear, as a young man jumped onto the tracks of the DC Metro system to cross several "hot rails" to the other side to pick up a man who had passed out and fallen onto the tracks as a train approached.  He lifted the man to safety, climbed the wall himself, and disappeared into the crowd.  I learned later that he was an off-duty DC police officer.  He did what was needed when the rest of us -- the station was full of travelers -- simply froze.
 
I once worked for a time with a Korean War Medal of Honor winner.  The Marine Corps Museum has an entire exhibit built around his actions.  Ironically, I watched from a distance as he almost choked to death on a bite of roast beef at an office Christmas party.  This was before the days of common knowledge of the Heimlich maneuver.  Somehow the food was dislodged and he survived.  Who the hero was that saved Bill Barber's life, I don't know.
 
Then there are the heroes who go to work every day, and perform unrecognized heroism as a part of their daily routine, as members of the military, police, fire, and emergency response agencies.  Again, that's heroism of the physical type (based on mental strength, of course). 
 
Then there are those who could be serving themselves, but who are serving others in food pantries, homeless sheleters, and various other charitable organizations.  I guess like most other things in life, heroism is a continuum, not necessarily always an extreme and recognizable, discrete action.
 
 
 
 

Fullest tributes and thanks to those who serve. Courage under fire has to be one of the most heroic experiences! So, let's remember those who withstood the Pearl Harbor attack, those who have served to keep America strong, and those who serve today in military, police, emergency, medical, and educational battlegrounds.

My own Dec. 7 laboring was to give birth to a son, 43 years ago today. He is today, a successful businessman, great reader and thinker, and overall fine human being, so I feel justified in celebrating Dec. 7 as a special day for a different reason.

As TT says, surely we can think of 100 comments to honor all the heroes.

Bennion, Mervyn, Capt., USN, CO of USS West Virginia, casualty

Cannon, George H., First Lt., USMC, casualty of Midway Island NAS
Finn, John W., Lt.(jg), USN, NAS Kaneohe Bay, from Los Angeles, CA (20
shrapnel wounds from firing at Japanese planes)
Flaherty, Francis C., Ens., USNR, casualty of USS Oklahoma

Fuqua, Samuel G. (Glenn), Capt., USN, USS Arizona, from Missouri
Hill, Edwin J. (Joseph), Boatswain CWO, USN, casualty of USS Nevada
Jones, Herbert C., Ens., USN, casualty of USS California
Kidd, Isaac C., R. Adm., USN, from Ohio, casualty of USS Arizona
Pharris, Jackson C., Gunner, USN, USS California, from Columbus, GA
Reeves, Thomas J., Chief Radioman WO(RAD), USN, casualty of USS California
Ross, Donald K., Lt.Cmdr, USN, USS Nevada
Scott, Robert R., Machinist’s Mate first class MM1c, USN, casualty of USS
California
Tomich, Peter, Chief Watertender, USN, casualty of USS Utah
Van Valkenburgh, Franklin, Capt(CO), USN, CO USS Arizona, casualty

Ward, James Richard, Seaman first class, USN, casualty of USS Oklahoma
Young, Cassin, Capt., USN, Washington DC, USS Vestal
 
 
The word hero is from the Greek, to protect and defend.  We often think of
heroes as those who are brave enough to attack. I am certain that the Japanese
had their own definition of hero for that day.  It's just not the same thing. 
The men above were Medal of Honor Recipients.  There were very few who lived to
receive that medal.
They are heroes in the old sense, protectors and defenders,
all.

This site gives a good background and 1941 broadcast of the events of Dec. 7 for our historic remembrance. This includes FDR's speech including "A date which will live in infamy....".......

http://news.investors.com/Article/593974/201112070844/pearl-harbor-day-anniversary-obama-proclamation-text.htm

How great is our technology that we can see this and hear a speech from 1941 and FDR!...Most of today's youth are totally ignorant of this time.

" LETS REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR AS WE DO THE ALAMO ...
 
LETS REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR AS WE GO TO FIGHT THE FOE ...
 
WE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER THOSE WHO DIED FOR LIBERTY ...
 
WE WILL REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR AS WE GO ON TO VICTORY ..."
 
Bless them ALL, who gave their All ... and All of those who were left behind .......
 
May All Grief Become Joy, at Having Known Those Heroes For a While .......

Little known facts about Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona....

http://www.history.com/news/2011/12/07/5-facts-about-pearl-harbor-and-the-uss-arizona/?cmpid=Social_Facebook_Hith_12072011_1

Such a loss in the numbers killed outright, including so many pairs of brothers and other relatives all at once.

Our flag is flying today and just below it is the Marine Corps flag.  I count myself lucky indeed to be married to a former service member who survived his service to our country.  Honor those young sailors and Marines who were taken on that day, and honor the survivors who lived to tells us what happened.
 
Honor veterans and military families all year long, but make a special effort on days like these.  I don't know of anyone of my acquaintence from that generation who didn't know someone who was lost in service, let alone the walking wounded that made it home, and those who survived unscathed physically but suffer from survivor's guilt.

We had, briefly, a classmate whose given name was Finn. It was unlikely to have arisen out of celtic or gaelic connections because his surname (a scrabble bonanza) had no vowels and a ton of late consonants. I wonder.
There was a boy named MacArthur Douglas too. No need to wonder there.
Pity the eight grade social studies teacher who, not content to let the newsreel footage speak for itself, made repeated attempts at pronouncing infamy with no luck at all… ever.
Given the gravity of the topic, nobody laughed. Everybody cringed though.

I have only ever known one guy to have asserted that he was sure he had the stuff heroes are made of.
When push came to shove, he stood frozen in his tracks while two women rescued a family from a burning van flipped on one side.
Before it was over, they had gotten the groceries out as well.
It was his bad luck that it was on a highway dept. video and made the news.

There are a lot more heroes than have ever been recognized or honored and I'm beginning to think that the guy over on Grove Street who put three kids through college without ever borrowing a penny, is one of them.

And my second grandson is named Finn, from Finnian - his first name, not his surname though. As stoney surmised, he's a little Irishman, on all sides, all 360 degrees of him.  At age 6,  what he accomplishes in this world is yet to be written, although I've seen small acts of heroism already from this Finn, defending the smaller from the bigger and vice versa, as is sometimes necessary in a family of 2 young boys and a youngest sister.  As the pages of his story get filled up, it's my prayer that whatever acts of heroism he performs on the world stage will not involve a war, but if it does, then he'll do his part for his country, and he'll do it well.  just like Lieutenant John William Finn, above - while he wears a celtic name, my Finn is an American boy through and through, who will do the right thing and then some when called upon...

To all the praise that can be given heros, to all the honor they deserve I have but one word:AMEN.

Dear Christopher: You are my hero!  Thank you for all your help, it's much appreciated.   I love my shiny medals and ribboned finery, and trust me when I say I look better bedecked than not.  Again, THANK you!    I remainand Happily So,Park4  what's in a name?  ever so much is what's in a name... thank you, again, chris!
 

Anyone want to take bets on what ex-governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich's corruption sentence will be?  I'm going to say 15 years.  Probably up here in Wisconsin at Oxford, a fine federal prison where many Chicago pols have laid their heads.  Anyone else want to take a guess? It's supposed to come down shortly...I don't know if they've got a camera in the courtroom for sentencing, but I hope so.  Any guesses, any takers?  Pick anwhere between 0-20 years...

I say he will be pardoned in 2012 or 2016.

Wait a minute are you the real Park 4 or the imposter? There are two of you again.

Yay, Park4! Your medals are back!!! Wait. Where'd they go?
 
I hope Blagojevich gets at least 10 years. He was embarrassing in his insistence that he'd done nothing remotely corrupt. The opposite of of a hero.
 
As to today's topic, Lynn~, you have it exactly right. What makes a hero - whether it is Finn standing in the middle of enemy fire at that 50 Caliber, or the firemen running up the stairs of the WTC when everyone else was running down - is action in spite of fear.
 
Again, my emotional side is getting to me - as I teared up reading Finn's story today. As a gal with grandfathers who served in both the Pacific and European theatres, a father who served stateside during Vietnam, and, I recently learned, at least one member of my paternal side in every war since the Revolutionary one, I admire and applaud such bravery.

Northsider, you seem to be in the uneven parallel universe. The more Park4s, the merrier!

every year,my friend Gil and I race to exchange an email : I have a friend,half Japanese and half Jewish,and every December 7th he attacks Pearl Schwartz...

I was 6 at the time when Pearl Harbor was attacked. I remember sitting in the living room with my parents listening to the news, My brother who was 13 was still out side playing, would be in soon, because it was starting to get toward evening (eastern standatd time) and my father ,a veteran of WW1 was very silent throughout the evening. Dinner was almost a solemn affair that day.Before it was over my father, most of my uncles, my brother and several cousins would serve. Luckily all lived to come home. Soome however were wounded and some were moderately to highly decorated. One thing they all had in common was that they didn't want to talk about what they had been through or had seen.As with Cassiepants I have had a member of my family in all the wars dating back to the French and Indian wars.They sere on both sides in the war between the states.

Park4, news is up - 14 years in the Big House for Blagojevich...
 
rwh1~ I believe reluctance in talking about the war is common across the board. Sadly, I didn't get a chance to have a long conversation with either of my grandfathers in their golden years when they might have been more willing to discuss. I know that my Mom's Dad was a navigator on a bomber in the Pacific and that is literally it.

Heroes are not just the bravest of the brave when called upon to be so, they have another role that often goes unrecognized.  They are true teachers who don't just talk about it, but demonstrate it.  They are also the finest examples we have of humility.  So much hubris is around and about, yet they who have so very much to be proud of live without putting their deeds forth.  Yet another reason to honor them.

Sorry abducted by the Notwell bug and went quietly to bed where I alternatey shivered and sweated.
Cat and I remained in bed all day. Have just wobbled downstairs in search of fluids as my skin is turning into crocodile texture. Back to bed .....
Great to see P4 got her medals back.
 

Park4 ~ Do you often have this identity problem?  Now there are two of you here.  I'm going to trust the one with medals and badges; welcome back!
 
Hazel ~ Do so hope you feel better soon.

Well Blagojevich got 14 years....I wonder what that will be in real time?

Hazel~ You might want to send a memo to whoever keeps sending you Notwell bugs. That is completely unacceptable. Please, please feel better soon. Big hugs!
 
Carol~One of my heroes has always been my father, who got up every morning at 4:30 am to get on a bus to go an hour and a half out to his job, then came back in time to have dinner with us at the table every single night. This in spite of being married to my mother (and he is still) who is a singularly difficulat woman. And he never missed a ballet recital, piano recital, or awards ceremony. As I see more and more young people struggle to find role models, I have to marvel at the quiet dignity of the man I proudly called Dad.

It was already a somber, quiet day, but I just read that Harry Morgan of MASH fame passed away.  Now I'm definitely feeling a bit sad.  Colonel Potter is one of my all time favorite TV characters.  Granted the writers had something to do with him being such a great role, but the actor has everything to do with bringing what's written to life and he did so effortlessly.
 
To quote Col. Potter..."Ah cow cookies."

We need fewer Kardashian types on TV and a few more Col Potter types.  My husband says I sound like my parents when I say it, but television is trash these days.  If I find a show I like you can bet it will be cancelled or retooled into something awful.

Oh, no...I loved Harry Morgan, and like you nachista, Colonel Potter was one of my favorite people.  Morgan played him so well,Potter was more a person than a fiction.  I'm awfully sorry to hear this news.

OH what fun!  There's a lot of me!  

On the Harry Morgan story, at 96 years young, he had managed to live well and richly. His talent was amazing. And his legacy - of the serious, but humorous Col. Potter as well as his role on Dragnet and all the other film and television he did - will ensure that his name far outlives his mortal self.

Park4 ~
That's more like it… looks good on you.

As little boys, we saw a moving picture show in which, during a dogfight, the side of a Japanese fighter plane was was riddled with bullet holes.
The pilot ripped off his oxygen mask and spewed… ketchup, I'm thinking and crashed.
It was not all that long after the war and the place was up for grabs with cheering and hooting.
Talking about it later, one guy said he was going to hate Japs for the rest of his life.
Another had, along with his entire glory-stomping clan, already forgiven them and prayed daily for them.
I said that I thought the idea of whupping someone's ass was that you didn't have to think about them at all... like Canada.

I have only met a couple of people who were at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.  Neither was in the military; both were children.  Both remember bullets whizzing by in the housing area.  I have only met one Medal of Honor winner.  It was at the DMZ to Delta dance held on Veteran's Day in Crystal City here in Northern Virginia.  It was several years ago.  Folks were dressed in all sorts of ways (my wife and I went formal - miniature medals look nice on a tuxedo).  I noticed a guy dressed in denim overalls and a flannel shirt wandering around being greeted by a lot of people.  When he got closer, I noticed his Medal of Honor around his neck.  We happened for a time to sit together, and he handed me a card that listed his tours and assignments in Vietnam.  Today he is a plumber in a small town up in Pennsylvania.  But then, on one day, he was called out by the events, and stepped forward in courage.  Doing what you must despite fear.  May we all find that inside ourselves.

If anyone is interested in helping out our active service men and women and our vets this holiday season, I have a list of organizations that help out.  They do everything from forwarding your emails of encouragement to sending movies and care packages.  My post about it can be found here...
 
http://nachista.blogspot.com/2011/11/so-you-say-you-support-our-troops.html

I'm on a late lunch break right now and put together this quick post about Harry Morgan with a couple of great YouTube videos.
 
http://nachista.blogspot.com/2011/12/rip.html
 
My husband still wonders to this day where I got the song "I love to go swimmin with bow legged women and swim between their legs"

"A man don't go his own way, he's nothing." FROM HERE TO ETERNITY speaks to another kind of hero, the one who stands up for what's right even within his own ranks. While The Bridge Over The River Kwai is my favorite WWII flick, this one make some statements and I do love any dive bar named CHOY'S.  

As someone who came into WWII movies late in the game, I don't have any good quotes to offer up. However, the depiction the film Pearl Harbor offered of the attack on Dec. 7th, and the depiction Saving Private Ryan offered of the beaches at Normandy are said to be spot on. That being said, I only hope that I would have the gumption to do what they did.

About six years ago my son bought an apt, a co-op to be exact.  We knew the man who had lived there was an elderly man and had passed away. Soon after moving in, my son learned from his next door neighbor that the elderly man was ex-military and had been stationed on the USS Arizona.  That was all we were able to learn about him. Then we learned the next-door neighbor was also ex-military - a navy man. My son came to dinner one night and started to tell me a story he had heard from his neighbor, Eric.  The sub picked up some huge boxes one night that were waiting on the beach of an island. I stopped him there - living in my apartment cmplex was a man who had told me the same story.  The boxes contained people - some were lying down, some were sitting up in chairs - the boxes were different sizes. The people were Chiang Kaishek and members of his party. They were taken aboard the sub, moved to a different island and deposited on the beach. From there the party went overland to their destination. It's an honor to listen to these people and we should do it every chance we get. We need to learn about their trials and their courage.  They're passing on now at an alraming rate and their stories shouldn't go with them entirely. My friend is black; what he went through must be horrendous but he never speaks of it except to say, "You wouldn't believe the things I've seen."  All I can say is, "I know that."  He's eighty years old now, and I think I'll go listen to more stories from him. And then tell them to my children and grandchildren.

From Here to Eternity - oh yes.  Love it.  Fell in love with Montgomery Clift as Pruit, the Bugler.  And Donna Reed, she was a very good actress.  It's easy to forget that. And Frank Sinatra, wasn't this his comback film?  It's my favorite WWII movie, along with "12 O'Clock High" - Gregory Peck was genius in that film.  12 O'Clock High has a lot of footage of air fights, doesn't it?  Or am I confusing my war movies?    

Ojai, many (but not all) servicemen and veterans are sensitive about being described as "Ex-" whatever.  Those that are believe that Ex denotes a dishonorable separation from their career.  They tend to prefer Former.  Although don't tell any Marines (active, retired or discharged) that they are "Former", especially since the new commandant, General Amos, sent out the now famous declaration...
 
"A Marine is a Marine.  I set that policy two weeks ago - there's no such thing as a former Marine.   You're a Marine, just in a different uniform and you're in a different phase of your life.  But you'll always be a Marine because you went to Parris Island, San Diego or the hills of Quantico.  There's no such thing as a former Marine."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W6AGM-LxGY&feature=colike
 
 
Mrs. Anna from "The King and I" is misbehaving, don't tell the King, he won't like it.

Nachista ~ That's the truth A Marine is always a Marine.
Every crazy person I know is a Marine, wouldn't be a Marine if he wasn't crazy and wouldn't be crazy if he wasn't a Marine. God bless 'em all.  Favorite hero movie...The Great Santini.

ojai22---Wow!!!  Indeed, we probably (most of us) believe the things he's seen and remembered!  How fortunate you are to hear the first hand recounts.  I hope you preserve those memories somehow.........

8:00 PM

From Here To Eternity (1953)

Enlisted men in Hawaii fight for love and honor on the eve of World War II.

Dir: Fred Zinnemann Cast:  Burt Lancaster , Montgomery Clift , Deborah Kerr .

BW-118 mins, TV-PG, CC,

10:15 PM

Task Force (1949)

A naval officer devotes his life to the development of the aircraft carrier.

Dir: Delmer Daves Cast:  Gary Cooper , Jane Wyatt , Wayne Morris .

C-117 mins, TV-PG, CC,

12:30 AM

To the Shores of Tripoli (1942)

A brash young Marine has to redeem himself after trying to romance a female officer.

Dir: Bruce Humberstone Cast:  John Payne , Maureen O'Hara , Randolph Scott .

C-86 mins, TV-PG, CC,

2:00 AM

Air Force (1943)

A bomber crew sees World War II action over the Pacific.

Dir: Howard Hawks Cast:  John Ridgely , Gig Young , Arthur Kennedy .

BW-125 mins, TV-G, CC,

4:15 AM

They Were Expendable (1945)

A Navy commander fights to prove the battle-worthiness of the PT boat at the start of World War II.

Dir: John Ford Cast:  Robert Montgomery , John Wayne , Donna Reed .

BW-135 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Sorry about that.  It's the TCM Movie Line-up for tonight, all war movies....FROM HERE TO ETERNITY IS ON RIGHT NOW.
 
I like "They Were Expendable" - the John Ford directed film but it's on at 4:15 EST A.M and I just hope I'm not awake at that time.  But if I am, I know what's on TCM.
 
 
PS:  all times Eastern on the schedule, above.
 
 
 
enjoy,
night all.

12 O'Clock High- Frank Savage!!!! A Bomber Jacket and Aviator Glasses remains a classic look.

Gotta love Pappy and his scotch drinkin Black Sheep

I got me a ripcord bracelet at the Army Surplus store last week. Love it!

And another face to Pearl Harbor lives in our city.  Roger Shimomura is a renowned artist who was confined to detention camps in Washington State after Pearl Harbor.  He said how the subject of the family's detainment was a forbidden subject never to be spoken of and of the bitterness that has been a part of his life ever since.  To view some of his work and learn about him rshim.com will get you there.          A small town I live in, but peopled by some extraordinary folk.

Finally home from work and I was hoping there would be some Pearl Harbor or WWII related movies on, but our basic cable is chuck full of nonsense reality TV shows and nothing much in the way of substance.  Looks like I'll have to break out my DVDs...should it be South Pacific, Australia, Pearl Harbor, Flags of our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima, Kiss Them For Me, I was a Male War Bride, U571, Tora Tora Tora, Casablanca, or The Sands Of Iwo Jima? 

I was just looking for the letters of transit in the piano. Not there but there was this good looking dame with some great gams. Hubba Hubba. Could wind up in Stalag 17 for dem thinks.

God bless all of the unsung heroes of yesterday, today and tomorrow. This country of ours owes them a debt that can never be repaid in full. They must never be forgotten because in their hearts, the cause and sacrifice was just.

But whut about Sgt bilko? and Rupert Ritzik?, and the catch22? and no time for sargents?

 
 Nachista - Thanks for the tip. I hadn't known that but did know about the Marines as I watch NCIS faithfully. Best show on TV!
  Carol - I have thought of a way to preserve his experiences - just get a small recorder and ask him to talk into it. But an extraordinary and effective way would be for these men and women to go into schoolrooms all over the country and talk to the history classes. Just spend the hour talking about their life during those years. I'm sure living hisstory classes would become more interesting to the students.   

Park4 is backkkkkkkkkkkkk!
 
Oh yes....
 
::::::::::HAPPY DANCE!:::::::::::::::

Heroic Attitudes 
 
 
"Every single day of the year someone somewhere can put either sadness or happiness to the date.

My parents were killed ten years ago three days from now. It was two days before Mothers Day. It was a violent horrible death for both of them, I saw the wreckage I read the autopsy report.

But I managed to forget the exact date although I have a pretty good idea because I can't let their tragic deaths ruin the rest of the May days and Mothers Days that I had ahead of me.

I have a child who has children and they deserve a grandmother who's looking forward into the years ahead, even while in her heart she's got a very private and personal scar.

Every day will mark something for someone, we can only hope that the happy marks outnumber the sad.

And then we go on because on is the only way to go." Miss Park

Many thanks to Paolos, and the technical team who helped find and uncover this post.