Heroes

A while back Pachacutec at Firedoglake asked readers, ”Who’s your hero?”

"On the left, we are right now rightly focused on taking aggressive action to restore constitutional balance to our country, even as we build coalitions and organize together to break through the media-governmental establishment’s deathgrip on power. Many have pointed out that at some point, we need to be more clear about what we are for, even as we oppose creeping tyrrany.

One way to build community and tease out what we believe in is to talk about people in our lives who shaped our beliefs. I talked about a big one for me in this post, but who shaped you? Who taught you the values that bring you to this site? Tell us about that in the comments, and especially, listen to what others have to say.

This is no idle exercise. Persuasion begins with curiosity. Even the hardest edged political opponent will have a hard time slandering you as a whacked out lunatic if they understand your values when you talk about your mentors, and they know you’ve listened to and understood theirs. Talk about values before you talk about issues, and connect your values to stories about real people you’ve known."

Talking about my heroes is a good follow up to the series I wrote about my beliefs last year. The individuals and organizations I admire go a long way to explain what I believe. Responding to Pachacutec’s idea required some thought; I admire many people for a variety of reasons but sorting through those names for the ones that influenced me directly took a while.

Once I figured out what a hero is, it didn’t take long to make a my hero list although it’s taken almost two months to actually write about them. My heroes are individuals and organizations that showed me how to be a decent human being and offered models of courage and honor. Even when I fall short of the ideal, heroes remind me that I can always strive for excellence and service to my community. (Note: I’ve listed links for a few; the more prominent individuals are pretty easy to Google if you want more info).

• Barry Goldwater introduced me to politics. His insurgent campaign for president showed me the power if ideas and the fun of campaigning. My politics then were white southern racist (I was a white teenager and at that time in my life very much a product of my environment) so I am not at all proud of the politics. But I found a calling that has kept me involved in the world ever since. Years later, when I moved to Arizona in the twilight of Goldwater’s career, I found his crusty libertarian contrarianism more in tune with my by this time liberal ideas than I would have expected. Looking at Republican politicians these days, Barry Goldwater seems quaint and out of place

• Ken Miller was my senior year English teacher in high school but even before I was in his class I was aware of his quite intellectualism. He seemed to be a man of knowledge and ideas, something not readily apparent in my small southern hometown. That impression was strongly reinforced when I was his student. Under his tutelage, I learned to appreciate the beauty of well written words and the joy of inquiry. I learned to think, which was the first step away from the racist politics of my teenage years.

• Norman Graebner taught diplomatic history at the University of Virginia when I was a student there in the late 60's. His analysis of American foreign policy from pre-Revolutionary times to Vietnam gave me a strong insight into the lack of balance between rhetoric and reality in Vietnam. Graebner was a realist who understood the uses and limits of power. His class offered me a framework for understanding how America could balance ideals and interests in dealing with other nations..

• Vietnam Veterans Against the War led the first veterans’ protest against the Vietnam war. Their march on Washington in April 1971, Dewey Canyon III, came about four months into my combat tour in Vietnam. I was electrified by their actions. Knowing that my brothers in arms were speaking out against something I believed was bad for this nation, even worse for Vietnam and (least of all, but still important) bad for me personally helped me understand that my service would have meaning only if I lived to do the same.

• George McGovern was the first presidential candidate I supported passionately after learning to think. McGovern was a truly decent man who was terribly caricatured by the Republicans and the press. What he lacked in political acumen and finesse was more than made up by his humanity and integrity. When he ran for president in 1972, I was less than a year past combat in Vietnam. As a highly decorated World War II veteran, his opposition to Vietnam during a time of Nixon’s “silent majority” and dirty tricks gave me my first opportunity to speak out as a veteran.

• The Sanctuary Movement were individuals who helped refugees of the repression and terror supported by the US government in Central America in the 1980's. As refugees from US-backed regimes, these individuals could not claim sanctuary in America where the Reagan Administration considered their tormentors to be “freedom fighters”. The Sanctuary Movement risked their liberty and economic well-being to help these refuges. About six members of the movement were tried on immigration and other violations. All were convicted but their actions reminded me of the Biblical injunction that “whatever you do for these, the least of my brethren, you also do for Me”. Whenever I think helping others is too much trouble I think of the Sanctuary Movement. It’s not hard then to do the right thing.

• Hugh Thompson was the American helicopter pilot who placed himself between rampaging American troops and Vietnamese civilians at My Lai. I’m not entirely sure when I learned of his heroism, probably in the late 70's, well after the fact. But his actions have resonated with me ever since. As soldiers in Vietnam we all risked our lives every day but here was an American who put his life at risk from his fellow Americans on behalf of Vietnamese civilians. Had he landed sooner, perhaps, America would not suffer the shame of My Lai but at least he put an end to the slaughter. His life after Vietnam was scarred by rejection and shunning from the country he served so bravely; his heroism was only recognized officially in 1998. He is my model of courage.

These are the people who have influenced my thinking over four decades. The list doesn’t end here. As I live and learn, I find other heroes. Two recent additioons are:

• Abraham Lincoln. Hardly a new hero but remember, I grew up in the south. I recently read Team of Rivals, by Doris Kearns Goodwin, which revealed Lincoln to me in a way that I had not seen before. Goodwin presents Lincoln as a pragmatic man whose beliefs evolved over time, a man aware of his own weaknesses but secure in his talents, able to submerge his own ego in order to work with others. What makes him a hero worth emulating is his ability to listen and think, something so lacking in many of America’s current leaders.

• Russ Feingold. The senator from Wisconsin was among the few who stood up against BushCheney early on, when it was not popular and certainly not easy. He voted against the Patriot Act, which he believed was a dangerous incursion on Americans’ Constitutional rights. He also voted against authorizing BushCheney’s war in Iraq, another act that was hardly popular at the time. He has consistently challenged BushCheney’s broad assertion of authority, showing the kind of political courage that America needs in these dangerous times.

These are the individuals and organizations that have shaped, and continue to shape, my beliefs and thought. What they have in common is their courage and willingness to think, learn and act on behalf of the principles they find important. I hope I will always be worthy of them.