First off, Amen! However, this story and Hero reminds me that one of the changes in our modern society. The denigration of heroes.
Our kids frequently no longer go to schools named for an American Hero/Heroine [replaced by school board or educators] nor are they taught about heroes unless a full measure of clay feet is included. Obviously certain admirable exceptions can be included if their names are Dr. ML King Jr. or Tubman or Chavez but few others come to mind. I very sincerely believe that we do our kids a great disservice by not giving them something other than comic-book, music or actor role models as presented by our popular culture.
Men like Rick Rescorla may have had faults but such heroism should be included in a modern day Herodotus and studied as exemplars of correct behavior.
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“HEART of a SOLDIER” - The Opera
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The local Native American hotheads were up in arms over this due to the fact that Colonel Hardin was also a noted Indian fighter (his nickname was The Indian Killer due to his sharpshooting abilities during Lord Dunmore's War). What they failed to mention was the fact that Colonel Hardin was murdered by the Shawnee while visiting them on a peace mission commissioned by President George Washington.
In the end, the local school board decided to go with the name, and John Hardin High School has been serving the community for the past ten years.