Ever meet a real hero?

TSgt Joshua Copeland. I have met many heros . . . men . . . women . . . children . . . some in uniform . . . some in western attire . . . some dressed to blend in with the indigenous population . . . far too many with severe wounds, amputations, burns, and/or other life threatening injuries. They share the common thread they took huge risks with their lives and personal well being . . . in defense of lives, territorial integrity, freedom, and rule of law . . . for the sake of their country, their troops, their civilians . . . allied countries, allied troops, allied civilians . . . paramilitary resistance fighters . . . and otherwise helpless, needy, and defenseless people. Some were heavily armed, armored, and moved in large groups . . . others moved quietly in small teams through the jungle, forest, mountains, rain and/or snow . . . yet others walked in silent isolation alone at night down dangerous foreign streets, paths, parkways, and alleys. They all share the common thread of acting entirely selflessly . . . consistent with the principles of loyalty, humanity, and compassion . . . very very few sought or even thought about any award and/or public acknowledgement of their actions . . . they only sought to do the right thing at the right time . . . without regard for what their actions would cost them and their families in the end. These are my heros . . . and there are far too many dead over far too many decades. Warmest Regards, Sandy

p.s. I have a special place in my heart for POWs who were faithful while enduring most inhumane treatment . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irMa2eO41Z4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj88Wspkn1s

There are those on RP whom with a sense of humor will respond, yes I have, "SEE em every day when I look in the mirror"...................smiling aren't you?

TSgt Joshua Copeland, my list:

1. COL Ola Lee Mize, USA, Medal of Honor recepient (Korea)
2. MAJ Ralph "Pappy" Shelton, USA, (trained the Bolivian Rangers that captured and killed Che Guevara)
3. Col. George "Bud" Day, USAF, Medal of Honor recepient (Vietnam)
4. COL Aaron Bank, USA, Father/Founder of Special Forces

1LT L S

I have met a few over the years myself:

1. One comes to mind immediately even though he never talked about it. My dad was a survivor of the Battle of the Bulge.

2. I met one of the survivors of the Tuskegee Airmen at our last Anzio Reunion. If you do not know who they were, shame on you, look it up.

3. Loren W. Hoercher, Sr. U.S. Army Retired. He was buried in Arlington Cemetery November 3, 2014 at 3:00pm. Who, you might ask? Well let me tell you a little about "Woody." He was one of the many heroes at Anzio, Italy, during WWII (USS Anzio (CG-68) was named after this battle). This was one of the major turning points of the War in Europe. 22 Medals of Honor were awarded to members of the Armed Forces during this Battle. Not only did I meet "Woody," I also met many more of his fellow survivors of the Battle of Anzio, many of whom still meet once a year to commemorate their service and remember fallen comrades. Men and women who served on the beaches of Anzio, I still salute you.

4. Navy Chiefs are a tough lot. Senior and Master Chiefs even tougher, but no so bad ass when we were being addressed by VADM Jeremiah A. Denton Jr. during one of our courses at the Senior Enlisted Academy. He spoke to us about honor and courage during an Ethics class. By the time he finished there was not a dry eye in the room. When he passed away this year the Navy, the United States, and the world lost a hero.

There are many, many more and most of them have to go unnamed, they are in uniform, have served, and retired. They go about their jobs with professionalism on a daily basis. We all know who they are and look up to them.

I met R. Lee Ermy at the Armed Forces Bowl last year. My Marine Bro-in-law thought it appropriate to tell him that I was an ACTUAL E7 and not just an honorary one.

I had the honor of knowing SGT Scott Edward Glenn for just a blink of time in my life. He was a combat engineer assigned to the 20th Combat Engineer Bn during Viet Nam. Did 4 tours and came home each time with breathtaking slides of the air strip being bombed as he was on the tarmac in a bird coming home. after 4 tours of Nam he decided to come home and be a father to 4 children and a husband to his wife. He quickly found employment as a diesel mechanic in Wash State for a logging firm . Two months after his discharge he was setting in the forest carving a wooden animal to give to one of his children, someone fell a tree on him ending his life ( I was 7 years old) he was 27. I miss my father and followed in his footsteps, I hope he is proud of me. He is my ultimate hero.... I also had the pleasure to meet one of the Tuskegee Airmen while at the VA in Richman Virginia.

I've had the honor of serving with 2 of them. SGM(R) Jim Russell & MSG(R) Don Iafrate These gentlemen both served as my senior Commo NCO and have been long time mentors, counselors and best of all friends. I can't say enough about either of them. They were great people who always went above and beyond for me and the mission. Their technical expertise would blow away anyone in the field. I was successful in my career because these 2 NCOs were successful in theirs. We had our moments of disagreement along the way, but we always overcame them by talking things through, never by me giving an order or pulling rank. I salute you both!!

Served with CPT Harold Fritz, 1st Squadron, 11th ACR in Fulda Germany in the early 70s.
He was awarded the Medal of Honor in Viet Nam as a LT assigned to A Trp 1st Squadron, 11th ACR.

Many - 99+% of them were people who went on doing their jobs to the best of their abilities long after any "reasonable" person would have chucked it in.

I was personal friends with a holder of the Victoria Cross and the only thing he would say about the incident was "Well, it all started out when I tripped and fell on my head in the river. It sort of went downhill from there but I didn't have time to realize it then.".

I had the privledge in my life of meeting many of them, due to my parents wide circle of friends. One of the most memorable, was meeting Chesty Puller as a very young child. All I recall is this bullhorn of a voice, and warm choclate chip cookies his wife made.
As a Marine, I had the distinct privledge of meeting Gregory Boyington, the real "Black Sheep" commander of WWII. While on Vella La Vella, my father's unit were given an area at the far end of the runway, and when the 214th (the Black Sheep) were coming back in from an unsuccessful hunt, they'd drop their 'drop tanks' just before landing... usually right into my father's unit, where they would go off like bombs, scattering metal all over the place.
When four of them were being treated for injuries, several of them hunted down the 214th command and the end result was one of them cold-cocked Boyington, who hushed it up, having said that the "Grunts have every right to be pissed."
I mentioned this to Gregory Boyington when I met him at El Toro, he thought for a moment then grinned, "That Marine had one fine left hook..."
The hero I met thru my mother was another sort of hero... Bob Hope. When she was in the Navy during WWII, my mother met him half a dozen times as he flew in and out on Tours he did for the military, and each time he would greet her, and ask her name again. He did however recall that she could cook a great steak each time as well. I had the pleasure of meeting him when he was in San Antonio way back in the 70's He stared at my mother for several seconds, then he grinned, "You cooking today?" He never seemed to remember her name, but he remembered her ability to grill a steak.