
1 minute read
IHIA
Director At Large
to his injuries, and thankful others knew their beloved trooper hadn’t died alone on the street.

“Throw not away the hero in thy soul.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Epilogue: Jim Hotaling and I attended National Defense University’s KEYSTONE Command Senior Enlisted Course together, after which I served on his staff at the national level. When we left those positions, Jim gifted me Keith Rocco’s print “The Battle of Takur Ghar”. It hangs on the wall of my lounge in his honor and in remembrance of our fellow Airmen lost that day: Jason Cunningham and John Chapman.

Similar selflessness happens every day. Not only in those who serve as sentries of freedom, holding the line between good and evil; but unlikely heroes like Melvin Ray, who help those unable to help themselves. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Whether you’re fighting the enemy or fighting crime; battling disease or personal demons; weathering the storms of life just to make it through another day, or simply doing the best you can with what you have where you are, always remember you are a hero to someone.
And heroes understand that selflessness and sacrifice always accompany making the world a better place.
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Jacobs, J. & Century, D. (2008). If not now, when?: Duty and sacrifice in America’s time of need. Berkley Publishing Group.
Schilling, D. & Longfritz, L. (2019). Alone at dawn. Hatchet Book Group. Sully Sullenberger. (n.d.). Biography. Retrieved April 7, 2023, from https:// www.sullysullenberger.com/
United States Secret Service. (n.d.). In remembrance: Forty years since the assassination attempt on President Reagan. Retrieved April 7, 2023, from https://www.secretservice.gov/reagan40thanniversary Zimmerman, D. & Gresham, J. (2011). Uncommon valor: The Medal of Honor and the warriors who earned it in Afghanistan and Iraq. St. Martin’s Griffin. Zuckoff, M. (2014). 13 hours: The inside account of what really happened in Benghazi. Twelve.