In previous discussions, there is the idea that people in the military should not all be considered heroes, but in this article, We are sure that they were not expecting that on a gun-free base. Our point being that they put themselves in the position to be a hero, so we believe they should be considererd a hero.
Another point is the perception people have of Capt. John Gaffaney. He did an extremely heroic thing, but are you going to see kids pretending to be him? I feel like most people would consider the type of heroism Gaffaney displayed as not "flashy" which seems to be a prerequisite to being a hero in these times. So we pose the question: "What do you think society's reaction to Gaffaney be if he was in a popular movie?"
Other questions to discuss are to what extent should the other servicemen that were shot be considered heroes?
Finally, would these men still have been considered heroes if they had access to guns and just shot Hasan?
http://patterico.com/2010/10/16/depressing-real-life-heroism/
Ryan, Andrew, Julian, Marcus
Nothing in this article seemed heroic or out of the ordinary to me. Someone attacked a military base. Soldiers had to fight for their lives. Their OWN lives. It happens.
ReplyDelete"Our point being that they put themselves in the position to be a hero, so we believe they should be considererd a hero."
So they were heroes because they were unprepared? How is working on a gun-free base putting themselves in the position to be a hero? They're just doing their everyday (normally) risk-free jobs. If Gaffaney was in a popular movie I think he'd be a minor character, if not an extra.
Getting shot doesn't make you a hero. Look at 50 Cent.
I agree completely with Bianca's statement this article was not very heroic. In addition I felt as if it was sort of confusing to understand. I feel as though the description of each character’s actions were far too sporadic and unorganized, which makes it hard to tell whether or not they are being heroic. If Gaffaney were put in a popular movie I do not think his part would really have any significance. He’d be one of many the nameless guys trying to stop the villain that is reeking havoc on everyone. As for the other soldiers, like Bianca said, they can’t be considered as being heroic for trying to save their own lives and not really anyone else’s. Even if they did have guns, it wouldn’t matter because they would just be better equipped for protecting themselves and not others.
ReplyDeleteI agree wit brandan this article was really confusing i read it over and over again trying to find something about the story that would make it heroic and i couldnt. It was kind of hard to understand because it went from talking about like medal of honor to depression. I think that all service people should at least get a little bit of reconition as a hero if not on the same level as others but some at least. Yes they would cause not only would he be captured he would be dead. For what he did that day i feel as though he deserves that.
ReplyDeleteAs for the confusion, I admit re-reading the article, and following some of the posted hyperlinks to come up with an idea of what was going on. The blog alone doesn't describe the entire situation well enough. There are several news stories about what led up to and followed from the shooting, but unfortunately few exist that cover the incident in complete detail (some do a decent job), though more details may emerge in the coming weeks as the hearing ends and the actual trial begins.
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Class consensus thus far is clearly one of ‘low- to-no heroism’, and of Capt. Gaffaney as a minor character. True, getting shot does not automatically elevate one to heroic status (or you and I both could ‘choose’ some new heroes for Hollywood and the music industry, right?), but he was one of the few (as far as I can tell from the limited information available on the shooting itself) who reacted at all. In this vein I’d like to lead a few new, yet, I believe, relevant topics into the discussion:
Shooting situation
--This base was gun-free, and on domestic soil. Though inhabited to a large degree by soldiers, certain parts also provide housing and services for families and civilians, all of whom were unarmed. In this way it can be considered more of a ‘live shooter’ situation, as opposed to the normal drills, for which the soldiers are trained. Most of the people killed in these situations are victims and not heroes, but must that always be? How much room do shootings leave for ‘heroics’? What actions qualify someone as a hero in these situations? Where is the value placed: on resistance, which may entail sacrifice but a quicker end to future, or on survival, which allows hostages to communicate the details of the story (be it in real-time via cell phone or similar, or through testimony and reconstruction of the event)? What about a shooting such as this; one among soldiers, trained and ready to be deployed?
Minor character
--Un-focusing our lens a little bit from this particular situation as it concerns justifying Capt. Gaffaney’s ‘heroic’ status, let’s examine the idea of a ‘minor character’ as it applies to heroism. Who’s to say that someone has to play a lead role to be a hero? ‘Heroics’ implies going above and beyond, but haven’t there been stories with ‘silent’ heroes who receive little acknowledgement or coverage in a story, whose actions went well beyond their stated duties? How possible is it to envision this in general? Now refocusing that lens, how possible is it to envision this when considered solely in the realm of news/current events when compared to other material, like fiction and stories in general? Would the media’s goal of balance, and fair presentation eliminate the under-representation (portrayal as a minor character) of a truly heroic person by presenting all pertinent information?
The blog brings to mind the awkward relationship between self defense and heroism. Which aspect of self defense is heroic and how much heroism exist in self defense. I guess if Gaffaney had succeeded in stopping Hasan, he might have become an instant hero.
ReplyDeleteMain characters in most movies, in my view, are not the most heroic characters. They just happen to be the last men standing. Imaging how awkward a movie would be if the main character died in the middle of it.
If this had been a movie, hasan would have obviously been the villian.Gaffaney would have been a likely supporting character and the main character ............well, let Hollywood decide.
I also agree with most of the posts already made. Those of which who said that "True, getting shot does not automatically elevate one to heroic status" ... Yes, Capt. John Gaffaney acted with great courage but I don't think that this qualifies him as a hero. His survival instincts kicked in to save his life and the others around him, however he unfortunately failed...
ReplyDeleteThose who were also involved in this event are not heroes either. I don't think that if the soldiers would have killed Hasan, that they would then be considered heroes either. Why is killing being considered a heroic action? It's not the idea of "killing" that determines who is and isn't a hero. It's more the situation and how one reacts to it. These soldiers could have somehow disarmed Hasan and perhaps the perception of theses soldiers would have been different.
An unnecessary death does not create a hero at least in my opinion. There are thousands of people that die everyday that are unnecessary deaths that should definitely not be considered heros. Out of the people in the article that were mentioned the only "hero" that I can see is Royal who risked his life to go and tell others soliers to get to safet saving their lives. In this case he put himself in harms way to save other lives. The people that just died because they did not have weapons does not give them the right to the title of hero.
ReplyDeleteI agree with many of the posts already stated that defending yourself necessarily makes you a hero. I guess I am having trouble deciding if there is even a possible element of heroism in this article, but it is hard to locate because of the author's writing, but that's beside the point. I agree that if there were a hero in this article it would have to be Royal because he risked his life. He presented qualities of unselfishness and bravery (often two qualities seen with our "typical heroes") I believe that doing your job and saving your OWN life as Bianca cannot be seen as heroic.
ReplyDeleteHeroism may not jump out in this article, but it is there. Capt. John Gaffaney may have been throwing a chair and people automatically assume it was to save his own life, but if he didn't try to defeat Hasan than Hasan would keep attacking others. If Spc Logan Burnett didn't try and help Gaffaney then he probably wouldn't have been shot. Burnett could have chose to escape if the opportunity presented itself instead of finding a chair and throwing it at the gunman. Also, Christopher Royal was able to keep the graduation ceremony safe from harm. Heroes have the right to protect themselves because if they don't protect themselves how are they going to protect society?
ReplyDeleteoverall most of the posts are agreeing that there was not much of any heroism in the blog. they all seem to base their arguement that to be an act of heroism it needs to be a selfless act. most of the blogs would agree that saving your own life while at work is not heroic while throwing a chair and saving more lives than their own is a selfless act of heroism.
ReplyDeleteI agree with many of the previous posts where as the article is confusing or misleading. This is because you have to click on the hyperlink and read the article thoroughly. As for my opinion on the article I do not see anything heroic or out of the ordinary that should be viewed as heroic. There are two main differences I see in this article. Being in position to be a hero and being a hero are two different things. By getting shot that does not make you a hero. I completely agree with Bianca about 50 cent. He was shot 9 times and he attempts to glorify the fact that he was shot but that does not turn him into a hero because he survived the attacks.
ReplyDeleteI agree with many of the posts already stated that defending yourself necessarily makes you a hero. Out of the people in the article that were mentioned the only "hero" that I can see is Royal who risked his life to go and tell others soliers to get to safet saving their lives.
ReplyDeleteim with the overwhelming majority, on that this article doesnt really symbolizes heroic behavior. I also agree with junyuan and molly on that royal is the person with a remote heroic charaterisitc
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