Honoring a Hero

From Huckleberries online:

Finally, Kootenai County has done right by Pappy Boyington, the Coeur d’Alene native who became one of the most decorated heroes of World War. I. On a 2-0 vote, with a curious abstention by Chairman Rick Currie, commissioners heeded the continuing plea by local veterans to name the county airport field after Boyington. Commissioners Todd Tondee and Rich Piazza brushed aside lame excuses by the airport board, Currie and others that the name change would cause confusion among pilots and/or that Boyington had character flaws. In other words, the war hero drank too much after his military discharge and his days commanding the famous Black Sheep Squadron. (Then, you might drink, too, if you’d risked your life regularly in dogfights with enemy gunners and spent 20 months as a POW.) Some contend Pappy suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Those who belittle Boyington’s bravery are no better than the UWashington student senators who balked at erecting a campus monument to Pappy because they thought a flier who’d shot down 26 planes was a poor role model. At least the kids can be excused for being young and naïve.

It’s a good move. One of our great flaws  is a demand that our heroes be more than human. There’s only one Man who was ever perfect (and we crucified Him.)  By exalting only perfection, you basically kill heroism in individuals, as any of us who are half-way honest compare ourselves to the standard of absolute perfection, we know we can’t live up to that standard, which leads me to say, “I’m no hero.”

Rather, we need to look at heroism for what it is, the extraordinary efforts of imperfect human beings to do somthing good. We don’t pretend that their faults were okay, because they were heroes. But rather, we acknowledge their faults as part of a frail humanity that makes them real, and makes heroism achievable for those of us who struggle in this body of flesh.