Bunker Mulligan "Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." ~Mark Twain

I always hesitate to link to Den Beste. He writes well, and has coherent thoughts. I agree with him almost entirely, probably because we both view the world through an engineer’s lens. My guess is that anyone reading my musings also reads his, and reads them before they come here.

In The price of heroism, he talks about real heroes and false ones. I’ve known both.

Much of my military career was spent in Air Rescue and Special Ops. Many of the men I worked with (very few women in those arenas back then) had awards on their Class A uniforms like the Air Force Cross. They were never on display except during formal occasions.

I’ve seen people do some phenomenal things without thinking, putting themselves in danger. It is only after everything is done and the guys sit back and take a deep breath that anyone realizes someone has done something heroic. Shit just happens, you deal with it, and think about what could have happened afterward. And say to yourself, “Damn!”

Steven also provides this link to the tale of a false hero, one who exudes false bravado. True heroes don’t plan to become heroes. It just happens. The false ones try hard to get recognition. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they die, and get others killed in the process.

UPDATE: I had the good fortune to find Greyhawk’s post on heroism before this post left the page. For anyone unfamiliar with the battle of Ia Drang, it is a post you need to read. Heroes are still among us.