The Congressional Medal of Honor Society is in Newtown, Connecticut, to honor six educators killed in the December elementary school massacre with its highest civilian award.
The society says Rachel D'Avino, Dawn Hochsprung, Anne Marie Murphy, Lauren Rousseau, Mary Sherlach and Victoria Soto exemplified courage, sacrifice and selflessness in trying to protect students from the gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The women's families will be presented with the Citizen Honors Medal during a ceremony Monday afternoon at Newtown High School.
The organization, which is made up of Medal of Honor recipients, also will present its Certificate of Commendation to all of the other teachers and staff of the Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The other day some jerk suggested that Gabby Giffords was not a hero, and that the true heroes are members of the military.
I would respectfully suggest, with no disrespect for the military members, that fighting back from a shot to the head, and then to stand up ion the face of overwhelming adversity to demand a change to the gun laws in this country so that others will not be victimized in a similar manner is the VERY definition of courage.
And I feel the same for these courageous educators.
While bravery on the field of battle is certainly worthy of respect, walking unarmed toward a young man wielding an assault rifle to stop him from killing your students is an entirely different level of bravery.
These women were not trained for this, nor should they be, and yet they did not hesitate to put their fragile bodies between their young students and the barrage of flesh ripping bullets that this mentally ill person fired from a weapons that the NRA has fought so hard to allow access to in this country.
And the disgusting part is that with the example of Gabby Giffords and the Sandy Hook six to inspire them, STILL our politicians cannot find the courage to stand up to a lobbyist group with an e-mail list.
Thanks for posting this, Gryphen. It was a breath of fresh air after the ugliness of the NRA meeting and the ridiculousness of the KY Derby misfits. It's nice to be reminded of the goodness of people.
ReplyDeleteAnother proposed Congressional Medal of Honor winner: The guy in the cowboy hat @ the Boston terror bombings: Carlos Arredondo.
ReplyDeleteThat's news that warms the heart.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
What I find even more disgusting is the fact that if these teachers were not dead, the GOP would be trying to get rid of their salary and benefits.
ReplyDeleteThat's because the GOP knows that ALLLL teachers are lazy and greedy and solely to blame when children fail in school or get in trouble, regardless of the students' backgrounds, abilities or home lives.
DeleteExcept that those same, lazy, greedy teachers also give great quantities of their time, their money, and their love to their students.
And, sometimes, they even give up their lives to protect those students.
When the voice of the extreme right is echoed by the likes of radio 'host' Bob Davis it becomes evident of just how steep an uphill climb it will be to ever gain any reasonable or sane gun controls in this sad nation -- “Just because a bad thing happened to you, doesn’t mean that you get to put a king in charge of my life. I’m sorry that you suffered a tragedy. But you know what? Deal with it, and don’t force me to lose my liberty, which is a greater tragedy than your loss,” Davis said."
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/radio-host-tells-newtown-families-hell-article-1.1324977#ixzz2SXk1huzu
Gabby, like many others, is indeed a hero victimized by a senseless war waged on the soil of our own Nation. These domestic terrorists, most notably those extremists at the head of the NRA, have only one goal and that's to boost and protect the outrageous profits of the gun and ammo manufacturers. They have openly declared war on anyone who attempts to forge a reasonable dialogue about sensible gun control
I have tremendous respect and gratitude for members of the military and the sacrifices that they and their families make to protect our country. However, they make that conscious choice to join the military and place themselves in dangerous situations.
ReplyDeleteGabby Giffords never chose to become a target of a shooter's rampage. And the job description of teacher or principal does NOT include giving up their lives to protect their students, and yet they didn't hesitate when the time came.
They are the true definition of 'hero'.
I support the award to the Sandy Hook teachers. Their actions showed selfless service, courage and saved lives. I did not support the 'Profile in Courage' award to Gabby Giffords.
ReplyDeleteThe ter hero is obviously in the mind of the beholder, and to each their own, but I base my definition on actions, not happenstance.
Gabby didn't will an award for heroics. She won an award for courage.
DeleteI often take issue with people's willingness to throw out the title, "hero."
Courage is something different.
Surely you can see that, can't you?
Courage and hero are often interchanged, at the unfortunate expense of clarity. However, the label of courage too, is levied subjectively and most often by others.
DeleteThe parameters used, are going to be personal and possibly biased. Did Gabby show courage for overcoming a heinous injury? Possibly. Did Gabby undertake the same actions we would expect of ourselves or others, when recovering from any injury or illness of possible mortality? Probably.
Is courage commonplace, or is courage out of the ordinary?
Constitutional Insurgent: Gabby Giffords did not become hero material by "happenstance." She was deliberately shot while meeting peacefully with her constituents - in other words, she was doing her job and was almost killed for doing it. Her immense courage comes from not hiding away after the shooting but facing the cameras and microphones and doing all that she can to prevent further carnage in this country. I do believe that she is a very courageous woman and I applaud her award. She truly deserves it just as the adult victims of the Newtown massacre deserve the tribute they will receive. They died in the line of duty.
DeleteBeaglemom
Beaglemom - I'm not knocking your belief that Gabby is a hero. Our biases are informed by our emotions and experience. Those biases influence how we apply labels to people and their actions.
DeleteI don't consider the actions of public speaking and on-camera face time...for a politician...to be terribly noteworthy. As the anonymous poster rightfully states below, courage is on a continuum; I don't think Gabby's a slouch by any stretch, but I wouldn't award her a medal either. Different standards for label application. Is it also possible that your esteem for gabby is not the least bit influenced by your shared ideology on gun control? If she took the opposite tack on the issue, would you still say she was heroic?
Constitutional Insurgent at 4:03 pm. OK. We have different ideas of heroes. But speaking publicly and on-camera after the kind of injuries that Gabby Giffords suffered do make her heroic. Since the January shooting she has been vilified by the far right and I'm sure that there are those who would like to make another "crosshairs" for her. I'm sure that she was urged repeatedly to retire quietly and live a life of retirement. She is a hero and she certainly is courageous. Maybe not for you but for me and for many others.
DeleteBeaglemom
I don't believe courage and heroics are interchangeable. Not at all. Surviving a disaster or an illness is not heroic, but it often take a great deal of courage.
ReplyDeleteOn a personal note, my young daughter recently had to undergo a series of serious and very invasive tests to diagnose a chronic illness. She was terrified, but she suffered through everything with grace and dignity and hardly any complaints. I call that courage.
Gabby Giffords survived a bullet to the head. She could have become a private citizen, nobody would blame her for staying out of the public realm, especially since she has had other death threats. Yet, she continues to fight for what she believes. That's not happenstance and I wouldn't call it heroics.
But it takes a lot of courage to do what she's doing.
Courage is on a continuum. You might not agree that Gabby deserves a medal for her level of courage, but to say she isn't courageous...I just can't see it.
Excellent post!
ReplyDeleteI especially liked the description of the organization
"The organization, which is made up of Medal of Honor recipients, also will present its Certificate of Commendation to all of the other teachers and staff of the Sandy Hook Elementary School."
Who, better, to define (or judge) what is a hero than someone who's already been honored as one?
And Gabby Giffords will always be a hero in my book.
All of you, get real. Gabby went went out to the people she represented and mingled and spoke in spite of the fact that she had received many death threats, bricks through her headquarters windows and,last but no least, SP's cross hairs. She was undeterred. Fearless. Let's see how many on the right would do so under those circumstances. Besides, the award was given by all the other Medal of Honor recipients.
DeleteAll of you Nay Sayers can just Stuff it!
Tailher,
DeleteFrom what you said, Gifford is niether a hero or courageous. if she knew about the death threats and the bricks being thrown through her window then that would make her both a coward in a very irresponsible. A coward for surroundsing herself with innocent children and other civilians, perhaps to thwart any assassination attempts. where she clearly benefited from the public's presence. seems as if though she's the only one who came out with some semblance of a life.
so no se the Medal of Honor for the man who disarmed the gunman and what about the victims who shielded her and ultimately lost their lives?
just a different point of view, just sayin o_O
Hey, everyone! Look at this guy. He's all in your face and stuff. Not only was Gabby not courageous, she was a coward. How do you like that? She's as cowardly as Ronald Regan!
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