IMO, we do toss the word around a lot. My personal example of a hero is Timothy Doran Kerlee, Jr. You'll have to look the story up for yourself if you're curious. It makes me cry.

__________________
Do you know what it's like to fall in the mud and get kicked... in the head... with an iron boot? Of course you don't, no one does. It never happens. It's a dumb question... skip it.

That is a fantastic story.

My appreciation to you for bringing it to my attention. I wish more stories like this were played endlessly on the news cycle.

Gave me chills and tears.

(Also, is this where you get your username from?)

My username comes from the 12th Man Tradition of Texas A&M. The 12th Man is always in the stands waiting to be called upon if they are needed.
http://aggietraditions.tamu.edu/12thman.shtml

I'd be lying if I said I was thinking of Mr. Kerlee when I chose my name. The tradition is old and when I hear "the 12th Man", I think of that tradition. When I hear the word "hero", I think of Tim Kerlee. I plan on calling one of my future grandkids Kerlee.

__________________
Do you know what it's like to fall in the mud and get kicked... in the head... with an iron boot? Of course you don't, no one does. It never happens. It's a dumb question... skip it.

Oh I see. Yea, I've heard of the tradition. But I saw in the link you provided, a mention about the "12th Man" and I thought "Hmmm, maybe that's where he gets his name from."

Even though I'm agnostic, I love the whole idea of God sending someone down to save other people. Fantastic.

Tim Kerlee was the 12th man to die from Bonfire collapse. There is something eerie about losing 12 like that and the 12th one was so special. Only 17 and his life had such incredible meaning. His strength was nothing short of spectacular, not just during the rescue, but after. He held on to see his parents and his last words and strength of faith had to have been an enormous comfort for them.

I don't know how much of the story you found. Even though he tested out of freshman year, he was a fish as far as the corps was concerned. There is a very strict hierarchy. Fish are not allowed to even say certain words - "boots" for instance, since only seniors wear boots. Before Tim died, the upperclassmen in his unit put together a few things for him because he earned them. A sam brown, boots and spurs, maybe something else I can't remember... brought to him and given to him at the hospital. They knew full well that he outranked everybody else....

__________________
Do you know what it's like to fall in the mud and get kicked... in the head... with an iron boot? Of course you don't, no one does. It never happens. It's a dumb question... skip it.

Yea, like I said man, I wish these stories were played endlessly on the news cycles. But they don't grab ratings for some reason. Thus, we are stuck with other garbage.