American Heroes

When I was a child, most of my reading involved stories about our founding fathers, the early pioneers, and westward settlers. These were books about hardship and triumph, endeavor, failure, and success. All of the stories embellished the reality of the main character in one way or another, principally because back then, people didn’t write stories for boys to introduce them to the seedy aspects of life; they wrote stories to encourage them to pursue the good, the honorable, and the worthwhile. No one really believed that Davy Crockett killed a bear at the age of three, but the frugality of William Penn was plausible, and instructive. And besides all that, it was wonderful backdrop for the playtime activities of energetic young boys —sixty years ago.

I wonder, now that the left has destroyed the reputations of all our founding fathers, whether there are any heroes left to celebrate. Maybe that’s at the crux of our problem in America: we’ve run out of heroes.

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was a hero of sorts; we relished in the stories of his youth. How he learned to read from the Bible on the dirt floor of a log cabin to the light of dim candles or lanterns. We learned how he wanted the black people to be free and share in the glory of America … but of course, that wasn’t at all true. Lincoln did want to free the slaves, but he wanted to send them back to Africa. I didn’t learn about that until much later, and by then, I had learned to place such knowledge in its proper historical context.

And Clara Barton was a hero to many children, for her exceptional life and her many achievements. As a young woman, someone introduced my grandmother to Ms. Barton, who inspired her to become a nurse.

Perhaps our last hero in America was Black Jack Pershing, and before him, Teddy Roosevelt (whom my grandmother never much appreciated because he was too full of himself). Whom else, do you think? Did Dwight Eisenhower, George S. Patton, Douglas MacArthur, or Chester W. Nimitz ever become our heroes? I know someone made a stab at creating that persona for John Kennedy, but I think his libido got in the way.

I think that for the most part, “sports heroes” have been a major disappointment. What about Mark Felt, formerly the second most senior man in the FBI who invented a pornographic pseudonym and brought down a president? Should we consider the first black American to achieve the office of Attorney General of the United States a hero? Is Barack Obama worthy of becoming a hero, even if he achieved nothing on his own merit?

I suspect we cannot consider Mr. Deep Throat a hero. He was a spineless coward, a lawbreaker, an oath breaker, and an embarrassment to the Federal Bureau of Investigation —as was Mr. G-man himself, whom we learned was a cross-dresser, and worse. Eliot Ness ended up killing himself.  Nor can we consider Mr. Holder a hero, in spite of his accomplishments. He contributed to the murder of a police officer and more than a hundred Mexican citizens. Barack Obama isn’t a hero … not after trying to cover up the murder of Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans. What message does Obama send to millions of young black kids —or are adults hiding the facts to achieve an agenda?

We seem to be running out of options for heroes. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Z:  Mustang, I believe you're so right;  Heroes are important.  I teach my preschoolers once a week about American heroes and I include George Washington and the cherry tree "I cannot tell a lie"...and I tell them it might not be true but it might as well be because it's not good to lie and Mr. Washington's character was obviously excellent because he became the Father of our Country!  They really get that.   I believe our children should grow up believing in the heroes...not only that Columbus raped and pillaged!  And they learn from me that Abe Lincoln is remembered as a very honest person and, as a child, studied by candlelight..a good lesson for children of a boy who was hungry for knowledge.   

When they're older, let them learn the whole truth;  by then, they'll have grown up loving America and having learned about how great our heroes were.   These days, they need to learn about putting a condom on a banana before learning about heroes...where does a country go from there?   I love what you wrote and I, too, would like to hear what HEROES our readers will come up with.   I'd start with our Navy SEALS...........wouldn't you?

What HEROES should kids be learning about today, folks?

Mustang  and Z