Who is a Hero ?

We Hear about the Word Hero Quite a bit?

Some Key Facts to Remember and Reflect on Veteran’s Day

Ø      November 11 is Veterans Day. A veteran is a soldier who has served his/her country.

Ø      Thirty-five countries fought in World War I. They fought for five years, from 1914 to 1918. The United States fought in the war from 1917 to 1918.

Ø      Finally the countries stopped fighting. The leaders signed an armistice. They signed the armistice on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. The armistice meant that the war was over.

Ø      Americans were very happy to hear about the armistice. No more soldiers would die in the war. The soldiers could come home.

Ø      People went out into the streets and laughed and danced. They blew horns and whistles and rang bells. They sang songs. They thought that there would never be another war.

Ø      President Wilson made November 11 a holiday to remember the end of the war. The holiday was called Armistice Day.

Ø      At eleven o'clock in the morning, everyone stopped doing whatever they were doing. People were completely silent for one minute. This minute was to remember all the soldiers who have died in wars.

Ø      The body of an unknown soldier was brought to America from the cemetery in France. His body was buried in a tomb at Arlington National Cemetery. It was called the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Ø      The US was in three more wars: World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The name of the holiday was changed to Veterans Day.

Ø      The bodies of three more unknown soldiers were brought to the cemetery. On Veterans Day, there are special services at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

I Salute and I am humbled by the Services of Men and Women who Chose to Protect the Country and Fellow Citizens putting their Life in the Line.

Excerpted from ESL Teacher's Holiday Activities Kit, by Elizabeth Claire.

What is a hero? What action does one take to become a hero? Who are these heroes that you hear everyone talk about, but never see? The word hero is passed around too much these days. A hero is not a football player that scores the game-winning touchdown or the goaltender who saves his team from a loss. A hero is usually an ordinary person that did extraordinary things. A true hero is really never a hero at all; at least not in their own mind.

When one reads Senator John McCain’s novel Why Courage Matters, McCain tells the story of Master Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez. Sergeant Benavidez went on a rescue mission to save wounded brothers; he was the only man to go. Carrying only a knife and a medic bag, he ran to his wounded buddies, sustaining gunshot wounds to his leg, face and head. A helicopter landed to rescue all of the men that were stranded. Benavidez got them all on board the helicopter only for the pilot to be fatally wounded, causing the chopper to crash.

He rescued all of the men from the crash and fought off the Vietnamese Army for six hours with the help of air strikes, circling gun ships, and his own fortitude. A second chopper landed and he boarded his wounded comrades, then he got on and then collapsed. Everyone thought he was dead, placing him in a body bag. While the doctor was zipping up the bag, Benavidez spat in his face to signal he was alive. They flew him to Saigon for surgery, treating him for seven severe gunshot wounds, twenty-eight shrapnel wounds, and bayonet wounds in both arms.

When he was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Ronald Reagan, Benavidez said “I don’t like to be called a hero. The real heroes are the ones who gave their lives for their country.” Such humility and modesty from Sergeant Benavidez is really representative of heroes because they never want the credit.


Read more: http://blogcritics.org/culture/article/what-is-a-hero/#ixzz150MEPlXg

 

Have a Great Day and We all Should be Proud to be Living in One of the Greatest Nations on Earth!!!

References from Excerpted from ESL Teacher's Holiday Activities Kit, by Elizabeth Claire http://www.teachervision.fen.com/veterans-day/history/3204.html?detoured=1 and 

http://blogcritics.org/culture/article/what-is-a-hero/