PC Heroism?

There's a new tradition in America of dumbing down long-established standards. We see it in politically correct high school history, sound-bite politics, and commercial television. These dumb-downs are now joined by a new politically correct definition of "Hero."

I was taught in school that a hero was a man of legendary strength, skill, and daring accomplishment. Achilles, Heracles, and Lysander were examples. Contemporarily, it was someone known for feats of courage and valor such as Sergeant York or Audie Murphy.

A heroine was a woman of the same qualities such as the Celtic Queen Boudicea or the Palmyrian Queen Zenobia. Both showed courage and died with reverence. These are high standards. Such individuals held that status because of what they had done. Their acts were above and beyond that which is expected of the ordinary person. It is behavior that inspires emulation.

When Pvt. Jessica Lynch, a supply clerk in the Iraqi war, was first hailed as a hero these standards would have applied -- except that "heroine" is the proper term. The Washington Post reported she had fought off Iraqi soldiers with gunshot wounds and knife wounds, a broken arm, and broken legs. She swore not to be taken alive and fought until she ran out of ammunition.

Well, now we know that Washington Post reporter gave us a dose of extract from a bull pasture. There were no gunshot or knife wounds. Lynch didn't even fire her weapon. She was in a vehicle that crashed. She was injured and taken prisoner. She did nothing more heroic than hide under a bed sheet. However, she is believed to be the first American woman POW rescued from enemy hands since WWII.

These new revelations didn't matter, though. When she went home from the hospital last week, most media outlets still referred to her as a hero. Why?

That same question could be asked about Pvt. Lori Piestewa who was with Lynch. She was driving the vehicle. It took fire and she crashed into the rear of a disabled tractor-trailer. Piestewa was seriously hurt. She died in captivity. Believed to be the first American Indian woman killed in action, she too is called a hero. The state of Arizona has renamed a mountain after her, but just what she did that was heroic is unclear. That's also the case with another woman in Lynch's company, Specialist Shoshana Johnson. A cook in their unit, she was wounded in both ankles and taken prisoner with Lynch.

After her release, Johnson received a multitude of civilian reward offers. They included a $100,000 scholarship to a culinary school, a bakery, and an appearance on Oprah Winfrey.

Moreover, the Congressional Black caucus held a ceremony presenting Johnson with a commemorative plaque and an American flag. Johnson is believed to be the first Black American woman to be taken as a prisoner of war. The caucus referred to her as a hero, but precisely what she did to earn that status remains unexplained.

All three women were support personnel. Fate threw them into a situation over which they had no control. They themselves made no claims to have performed heroically. They should be commended for that honesty.

If you measure their behavior by the traditional standards of heroism, it's difficult to find any correlation. They did not perform any acts of daring and courage. They did not willingly put themselves in harm's way to accomplish a mission. They did not risk their own lives to save another. They did not wipe out large numbers of the enemy. All they did was get injured and get captured. Oh yeah, and they were the first women of their kind to experience this.

When comparing this to what Sgt. York and Audie Murphy did, it's clear that the meaning of "hero" is being dumbed down. It's not by these women, but by politicians and the media. It appears they're being honored not for what they did, but for what they are and for what they experienced.

Moreover, out of the 11 soldiers who were killed fighting in this engagement and the seven who were captured, only the three women have been elevated to heroine status by the civilian press.

The men who did all the fighting have been relegated to media oblivion. For example, no one in the media honors the fact Pfc. Patrick Miller was surrounded by enemy fire and may have killed as many as nine Iraqis before he was captured. Nor do they speak of Specialist Joseph Hudson's defiance before Iraqi cameras. There are others, but you get the idea. Heroism has indeed become politically correct.