Holding Out for a Hero

So, the results are in.  Whitney Houston died of drowning, with the contributing factors of heart disease…. and cocaine.  Am I surprised?  No.  People within her inner circle swore that she was “drug free and on the road to recovery.”  My mind is immediately taken back to the death of Amy Winehouse almost a year ago.  Yet another “star” whom was proclaimed to be drug and alcohol free, having survived years of self abuse and beginning to thrive.  >sound the buzzer<  She died of alcohol poisoning.   *feign shock*  And let’s not forget Michael Jackson.  Dear me, let’s not even touch on that one – I could go on all day.

These pointless deaths of talented individuals are nothing new.  We’ve recently been inundated with the life story of Marilyn Monroe through the media and the new hit TV show “SMASH.”, but we forget she died of a drug overdose, albeit sleeping pills, but still drug abuse.  Elvis Presley passed away with “contributing factors,” a polite way of saying he died of an overdose of prescription drugs, as did Heath Ledger.  Judy Garland, John Belushi, Chris Farley, Dana Plato, Montgomery Cliff, Anna Nicole Smith, River Phoenix, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Lenny Bruce, Jim Morrison, Tommy Dorsey, Derek Boogaard, Bobby Duncom, Jr., Curt Hennig, Harold Hunter … and the list goes on and on between singers, actors and sports athletes.  The media plays up these deaths as if we should be worshipping the lifestyles of destruction these people have left in their careless wake.

Do not get me wrong.  Each of these people had amazing talent and, had they not committed suicide, we certainly would have enjoyed them for years.  Committed suicide you say?  Yes.  Let’s remember that drug use and alcohol abuse is suicide.  We know the results and if we choose to use and abuse then we have made a commitment to our own demise.   This deliberate destruction irritates me (to say that drug and alcohol abuse is a mental issue could be true but there are way too many positive role models and too much help available to feel too much pity for it).  What really angers me is the hero status they achieve at the time of their death.

We don’t see media outlets listing the names of our real heroes.  Between soldiers, fire fighters, police officers, we have plenty of ‘everyday people’ to elevate to “Hero” rather than drug and alcohol addicts who sing, act, dance, play sports and do little else.  How about firefighters Nolan Ervin "Goat" Pittman, Mark G. Ratledge, Gerald "Jerry" R. Wetherell, Matt Waller,  Jeremy Tighe,  Zachary Whitacre,  David M. Flint, Doug  Haase, Sr., Walter C. Sumner, Bruce Turcotte,  Brandon Little, Duane Ibarra, David  Crenshaw, Samuel  Butler, William "Jumbo" Elliott, Leo Lionell Crisanto, Jonathan D. Myers, Donald L. Jones, Thomas "Bill" Dillion, Mark W. Morrison, or Jamison Kampmeyer?  All died saving lives over the past month. 

What about fallen police officers Sergeant Ruben Thomas, Correctional Officer Britney Muex, Deputy Sheriff Barbara Pill, Police Officer Preston Ross Jr., Police Officer Zane Perry, Trooper Tony Radulescu, Sergeant Michael Todd May, Detective David White, Reserve Deputy Don Williams, Sergeant Almondo Greer-Travis, Police Officer Steven Green, Police Officer Vince Bann Jr., Master Corporal Sandra "Sandy" Rogers, Police Officer William Talbert, Senior Police Officer Gail Thomas, Deputy Sheriff James Thacker, Patrol Officer Garret Davis, Correctional Officer Tracy Hardin, Sergeant Barbara Ester, or Agent Francis Crespo-Mandry?  These are just people who have passed away in the past 3 months.

Neither of these lists is even remotely close to being comprehensive.   But ask yourself:  “Have I ever heard of them?”  The list of soldiers who have died around the world, the ones that keep us free from tyranny and safe from terrorism, could fill way to many web pages.  Do we even stop to think that these fallen REAL HEREOS are fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters – people who gave their lives for something bigger than themselves?  But instead, they have been relegated to one-second blurbs, if even that, on local media stations.  We are moved quickly from the dead firefighter who was fighting a 7 alarm inferno, the fallen soldier who died protecting his comrades and the slain cop who was protecting an innocent from a gunman to how wonderful and awesome Michael Jackson was as a person and an artist and how we should be thankful for all he did.  Really?  To what end?  For who?  For ego?  Arguably, one could say that a lot of these dead ‘stars’ did wonders with their money to help others.  I will not argue that point.  I’m sure they did. But what I will say is most of us have no idea how much the 6,370 soldiers who fell during Operation Iraqi Freedom/Enduring Freedom also donated of themselves - whether monetary or voluntary works through organizations like Meals on Wheels, ARC, Salvation Army, the Habitat for Humanity or any host of other charitable organizations. 

Yes, it perplexes and angers me.  To think that my children are being taught that a self-centered, egotistical destructive lifestyle is what elevates someone to being a ‘hero’ is incomprehensible.  Every single day I reinforce that dedication to community - not to ones self - is absolutely essential.  I teach them that decadence is not a positive character trait but rather self-sacrifice and hard work fulfill the soul and build ones moral fiber.  These are the traits that we should be teaching our children and that these qualities are what advance humanity beyond our own narcissistic tendencies.