Dear America,
In a world that is separated on most issues, I think I speak for everyone when I say that our men and women in uniform are the exception to that statement. In a word, they are the very best our country has to offer at any given time. The word hero is one that is lost in this generation. A hero is labeled as a football player, a country singer, or an actor/actress.
However, I think it is more like this…
A REAL HERO, is someone that put their job/calling above themselves. A person that at any moment was willing to give everything, to include their own life, for you and me. A Hero, thinks differently than most people. They do not think in selfish fashion. They think and live their life selflessly A REAL HERO, is someone that doesn’t do it for recognition. In fact, many men and women who wear our countries uniforms can barely even afford to pay their own bills. They simply do it because they believe in this country and what it stands for. They do it for their families and they do it for people they will never meet.
Unfortunately, our society as a whole has lost focus of what a True hero is these days. You have people like George Ciccariello, A Drexel Professor, that has become very well known for his controversial tweets. Most recently, he was on a plane in which a passenger surrendered their first class seat to a service member. This has become a common practice and a sign of gratitude for citizens to give back to our men and women in uniform.
However, Ciccariello had his own thoughts on the subject…
In this tweet, Ciccariello displays not only his distaste for the act, but also his ignorance. The utter nerve of a citizen to show such disrespect to their very people that allow them the freedom to act in that manner in the first place. This goes with the new and common narrative of disrespect within our society. In this day, it is more “popular’ to be against things than it is to simply be supportive of our societies norms.
This type of behavior simply can not be tolerated. We as Americans owe our men and women past, present, and future more than to let this behavior slide. We must choose to take back our society from within. We must re-establish the norm of respect and gratitude within us. We as Americans have the power to facilitate change. We can make a difference. Our REAL HEROES, within our country, deserve that from us all.
This is America, and it is time we ALL started to act like it.
-Graham