Daniel Hernandez, hero
Of the many heroes from the awful tragedy of the Tuscon, Arizona shootings was one Daniel Hernandez.
Daniel Hernandez is an 20 year old intern who had only been working for one week for Representative Gabby Giffords.
Daniel is widely credited for saving Representative Giffords life by dashing through the hail of bullets from the madman to cradle Representative Giffords head and apply compresses to staunch the bleeding until medical help arrived.
Last night at a memorial service in Arizona for the six victions of the Tuscon shootings, Daniel Hernandez was recognized by President Obama for his heroism. Daniel showed incredible poise when he rose to speak he said while he appreciated the recognition he had to reject the term "hero". He said simply "I am no hero" and then he eloquently spoke of the real heroism of the first responders, police and other civilians on the scene who helped to save lives. When President Obama rose to speak he in turn rejected Daniel's rejection and rightly pointed out to the 26,000 audience that Daniel was a hero and probably saved Representative Gifford's life by his quick thinking actions.
People like Daniel Hernandez are the real heroes in our society. Another hero was Patiricia Maisch. This grandmother, although wounded, had the presence of mind to prevent the shooter from loading another clip of 31 rounds of ammunition into his automatic gun.
Patricia Maisch, hero
It is with some irony that I note that Daniel Hernandez is an openly gay man. With the recent repeal of the Don't Ask Don' t Tell law, Daniel's actions on that tragic Saturday morning last week reminds us that perhaps, just perhaps having a gay man in the foxhole next to us in combat does not deteriorate troop cohesion.
In fact, I want this grandmom in the foxhole with me.
Think of this. Here is this gay man who is Hispanic and overweight. How many more strikes can one have against him for not meeting the stereotype of the macho Marine guy?
And the grandmom, Patricia Maisch who crawled across the ground, wounded to prevent the shooter from loading another clip of 31 rounds in his gun?
It is time we leave stereotypes behind and accept the fact that everyone in our society contributes to the greatness of this country. Straight, gay, men women, white, black and Hispanic.
We're all in this together.
We are one.
