Hero

We had a conversation once about hero's. The word is bantered about so much, kind of like "epic" it's just diluted

Everyone has an image about what a hero is. And typically whoever we see as a hero doesn't a.) see themselves as a hero or b.) want to be seen as a hero

If you are hired and trained to do a dangerous job and then do said job are you a hero? Or are you just doing what you were trained to do? Is it different if you were forced to, or came upon something and you performed and succeeded in a dangerous action?

Is heroic defined by a life saving, dangerous act? If the action is heroic are you a hero?

I can't say we came to a resolution, I think it's too personal. It is a label we place on people for emotional reasons as much as anything, whether they want the title or not

Some awards you do not win. Some awards you earn. Some you pay for with your life - sometimes immediately, sometimes slowly over time.

He earned a bronze star in Vietnam. He was a Navy medic in a Marine platoon. His award was lost for years, a victim of bureaucracy and paperwork trails, he actually only received perhaps 10 years ago. He served proudly, loved the service.

You don't get awarded a Bronze Star for being a good soldier. While text can describe the circumstances there is little a civilian or military person who hasn't seen combat can understand about the actualities - sites, sounds, smells - the fear, the stop motion, the permanent scar it places so deep as to never quite heal completely.

He shared pictures of part of his service - they aren't shareable but it greatly helped me understand, but never completely

He was a Navy man, like my Dad. He struggled over the loss of his brother, and helped share those feelings when I lost my Dad. He remembered Dad every Veterans Day and made sure his name was announced. And he always called or e-mailed to let me know he had done it, that he had remembered Dad. He pointed me in the right direction when I got Dad's WWII medals and etc for my Mom's flag display.

He loved his time in the military, loved the men he served with. And he hated both as well. It's a contradiction only war can explain. July was always hard, when you lose so many you can never really recover. I always made sure to reach out in July, on Veterans Day, on Memorial Day. He taught me the importance of thanking, remembering service men

Those deep scars surfaced from time to time and took more patience, more understanding. Be he deserved that, he had earned that

He was a hero. The Bronze Star proves that. And part of him was proud of that, most of him just wanted his friends to come home, to be a little better, to save one more life. Part of him could never measure up, even though he had done far more than any of us could dream of doing

Mike Morris lived to see 72, but unfortunately no more. Please remember and honor him - he deserves so much more from us. I'll so miss him, and our conversations. I'll miss the scars too, and all he taught be about situations I hope to never fully understand

Who will speak up and remember Dad on Veterans Day for me now?