Don't be a hero! Make heroes!
By ahgong
@ahgong (10064)
Singapore
December 23, 2007 10:20pm CST
This was the famous quote from my CSM (Company Sergeant Major) when I was serving my tour in the army. He says, the onus of a good soldier is not to be a hero.
And by definition of a hero, he meant those who dies courageously during war. And these men are the ones who gets honored by the state for their death by being crowned a hero who fought and died for their countrymen.
The good soldier will never try to be a hero. He would have died in vain as the enemy would have shot him down and scored one for the enemy.
Instead, a good soldier will strive to make heroes. Let the enemy state honor the dead soldier who died at your rifle.
Make heroes! Don't become one!
Every time I think about this phase, it will always bring a smile to my face. The tough times we had in the army and the people who doughs out pretty good advices when we were training!
Heh heh heh... so what do you think? Be a hero or make one?
1 person likes this
3 responses
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
27 Dec 07
That's one interesting quote.
I concur with your CSM. Make heroes... don't be that hero yourself.
Yet then again, sometimes you don't really have any choice. It is something we should be thankful for that Singapore is not a war-torn country.
Otherwise, we may have to put this quote into practice every moment of our lives.:P
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
29 Jan 08
It is true that we are so lucky. And I hope that this will continue on without ever changing.
I can never imagine what a real war will be like. No matter how much training we get at the simulation rooms or the training ground, we can never be prepared enough for war.
I guess my CSM just wanted to spur us on to be better soldiers than to just go to war and die for nothing.
Like Rambo said in his latest movie "Live for nothing... or Die for something!"
@smacksman (6053)
•
24 Dec 07
I can understand what your CSM was saying but my definition of a hero is slightly different.
I think a hero is one who puts the lives of his comrades before his own.
That way he can still be alive after risking his life.
The comment above about being hit in the back or the bum and therefore being branded a coward is very tough on them. That may have been true in old fashioned warfare where armies faced each other, but not in modern warfare.
I have been in contacts where we were ambushed and bullets were flying in all directions! The only way to maybe survive was to charge out of the killing ground firing and yelling like a madman. You are not a hero - self survival kicks in!
It is hard for people to talk sensibly about war unless they have experienced it.
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
24 Dec 07
not sure if that post i did before came out cos I posted before logging in.... well if it shows then that was me haha.
