We call a lot of people “heroes,” and quite often, rightfully so. These are people who really give of themselves — sometimes at great cost — to make the lives of others better. I see the fathers of “Dads on Duty” as heroes of a sort. They might not say so, but these are the kind of men we need. These are men who are saving lives, even if some won’t admit it.
And of course we have the traditional “hero” — the one who steps up in times of crisis and literally saves live right there on the spot. We know the stories. The selfless decisiveness that comes with training and a heart that is ready to give its all when the need arises. Most of us won’t know if we have what it takes. Some already do know. Having served in the military for 27 years, I’ve been around plenty of people who have the “stuff” it takes to be a hero. It’s just that, thankfully, we haven’t always had to see it happen first hand and in real life (although I’ve known people who’ve done plenty of heroic things in other parts of the world).
I was reminded of this while watching a show about the rebuilding of Laguardia Airport in New York. Laguardia is the airport from which US Airways flight 1549 departed nearly 13 years ago. Flight 1549 crashed, and yet not a single person died because of the heroic actions of it’s pilot, Captain Chesley Burnett “Sully” Sullenberger III. Captain Sullenberger saw the situation, made the calls that needed to be made, and put the plane down in the Hudson River in a perfect, controlled water landing. He let his years of experience and training take over and was decisive to the very point every person was safely off the aircraft and accounted for. His first officer and flight attendants functioned as a team that had the confidence in their training that it took to keep the passengers calm and safe.
When I see videos like this one, I’m encouraged. We read about “heroes” all of the time in books of fantasy. We see them on the big screen, saving the world from aliens and terrorists. But here we have a man (and his crew) who just did it. Who had what it took, and made it count. Good stuff…