Andrew Carnegie funded many charitable causes. His philanthropy has enabled myriad educational enterprises, including libraries, universities and research programs.
The cause he funded which, according to the expert on “Antiques Roadshow,” was nearest and dearest to him, the one in which he invested personal interest most intently, recognized acts of heroism. To date, over 9000 such acts have been honored, the hero receiving a bronze medal and a cash prize.
The specific medal on the “Roadshow” honored a man who was lowered into a well to rescue an 18 month-old boy. The man had come across a crowd standing around the well, trying to figure out what to do. He was small in stature, so he persuaded the others to lower him into the well on a rope, despite the fact that the walls of the well were crumbling. The father of a son just a few years older than the boy in the well, the man was determined and, happily, successful. A great story.
Around the circumference of the medal’s back surface is the verse from John 15:13—“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
Synchronistically, the “Roadshow “episode aired ten days before Veteran’s Day and the same day as my visit to a retirement community that displays photos of residents who have served in one of the U.S. armed forces.
I have been in several retirement communities, sharing my book with the residents, where there is a similar wall of honor. What a great way to recognize service to the nation and to make the point that such service should not be forgotten. I can only imagine how proud a man or woman might be to have such a picture on the wall.
Two thoughts emerged. First, I doubt that many, if any, of the folks whose pictures are displayed would consider themselves heroes. They would demur, if so described, saying that they were “just doing their duty.”
I never served in the military, but I take no offense at a veteran saying that he or she was just doing their duty. I can envision a life of duty that does not involve military service. I also know that my opportunity to fulfill the duty in my life has been enhanced throughout our country’s history by the fact that there have been men and women who did their duty through military service.
That is one reason I value Veteran’s Day. People dedicated time from their lives to serve in the armed forces. I salute them for that gift, to the country and to me.
A subset of all those who have put on a uniform have faced the possibility of death or disability in a live war with real bullets and bombs. Placing one’s life in imminent danger to save the life of another is a paraphrase of the words on the Carnegie Medal for Heroism.
I don’t mind calling them heroes. And far too many have carried in their brains burdens from that service that impede their living their lives to the fullest. These folks earn special gratitude.
The second thought derives from my experience with countless parents in schools I have headed who have held together families while a loved one, often a dad, was in a foreign land facing those real bullets and bombs. Those parents cannot have had an easy task.
Single parenting is tough enough. Being the one of a pair of parents left behind while the other is off to war must compound the challenge. How does one keep children away from the anxiety the home-front spouse inevitably feels? Would every television report about American casualties cause a knot in one’s stomach?
This is not a new phenomenon. Remember the world wars? Vietnam?
The home front parent would not consider herself or himself a hero, either. And, in fact, these folks do not place their lives in imminent physical danger to save the life of another.
Theirs is a different commitment. They strive to protect their children to the extent possible from the wrenching worry of war endured by the folks at home. Is there a special niche in the wall of heroes for such as these?
Veteran’s Day is a terrific tradition. Thank you, all of you who took time from your lives to serve. A special thanks to those who put their lives on the line in a shooting war.
And thanks to those who served on the home front, too. Maybe there could be a special day for them, too.
I wonder what Mr. Carnegie might think about that?
Daniel E. White
November 4, 2015