In your opinion, "What is a Hero?"

I think a hero can come in many shapes or forms. Sometimes, you know them when you see them and sometimes you are clueless to the efforts and sacrifice that were made. But the hero knows. My husband is my hero. Him and his group of Marines that cleared the way for all of us that came following and lived in the areas they secured. He was my angel without me knowing.

SFC Joseph James, I think a hero is in the eye of the beholder. My brother, five years my senior, is fighting lung cancer. He is staying positive and keeping his head up, even though he is very sick. To me, that's heroic. On the other side of that coin, I was visiting him in the hospital and, to everyone that walked in, he introduced me as "Active Duty SSG Kevin J Parker, United States Army." I was a little embarrassed, but he refused to stop. His nurses walked in and, after his introduction, he said, "That's a man sitting there. Anyone who will get blown up by an IED and shot at by an RPG and not be scared is a MAN." Now, in my head I'm thinking how I'm one of hundreds who fit that criteria, but, to my big brother, I'm his hero. He also becomes emotional when he meets other servicemen and - women. We are all his heroes.

A hero laughs at death in the face and never looks back.

Doing your job in the military and do it well and without supervision, being ready to give it your all when the situation calls for it, and giving your troops and junior leaders all of the credit when the mission goes well...most military personnel are heroes in one degree or another, but thankfully only a few of us at a time have to face the situations that require us to be the kind of Soldier, Sailor, Marine, or Airman that makes our forefathers proud of our generation - my thanks to SPC Skarlatos and Airman Stone for carrying on the traditions of our service!

someone who put his or her life on the line for someone you do not know.

Simply a title given to you by people that appreciate you beyond anything they can show.

I believe all that served are heroes, volunteer or "voluntold".

Is a type of sandwich that consists of a long roll of Italian or French bread, split widthwise either into two pieces or opened in a "V" on one side, and filled with a variety of meats, cheeses, vegetables, seasonings, and sauces. OR it is CPL Tibor Rubin, a Hungarian Jew who survived Mauthenhausen Concentration Camp in Austria, came to America as a refugee (spoke no English), was captured by the Chinese in Korea and is credited in saving 40 American POWS. http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/koreanwar.html#RUBIN

NAZI Concentration Camp to Commie POW Camp after coming to America -- and saving 40 American men.

That is actually a great question. I have deployed three times. Got a TBI, did my thing in Iraq, however I am NOT a hero. I lost friends there, and honestly they simply died doing the same thing that we did everyday and I am not sure that I would call them hero's. They simply were STOLEN from us.
Hero's would be someone that did something that was above and beyond, i.e. someone that actually "took that bullet for someone else", someone that jumped on that grenade for someone else. Let me get less graphic, someone that was simply there for you in your time of need. A hero is someone that kept your head above water when you didn't think you had it in you.
My TRUE Hero's...my PERSONAL HERO's those who did something that they really did not want to do (for the most part) and never got thanks for it. Vietnam Vets. Those are MY hero's.
So, hero's are something that come in different shapes and sizes. Different reasons, different needs for them. Not all of them are those ones that we hear about, some just got us through a rough deployment. Some just get us through everyday life and some actually did something that the majority of us either never did and paid the ultimate price or pay an ongoing ultimate price (severe injury from protecting those they were with for example)
That would be my definition from the hip.

I think this has actually been the most difficult question I have seen on RP to answer... I had to think about qualities a person who should be a hero ought to have... I have to say part of this is to be able to have meaningful impact on the lives of others for a positive outcome. To have that moment when no one else is able or willing to act, there is that one person to stand up... It is a moment of significance when a hero is found... Hell, General Grant was not a successful outside of the military, there was even doubt to even give him command, but he eventually be came the Commander of the Union Army, held a rank no one since George Washington held... that is a hero... to over come great odds, to stand up and do a job no one is willing to do. Just a bit of a caveat... I also think a hero is a person willing to clean a toilet... my goodness there are some pigs out there...