| Current mood: |  contemplative |
| Entry tags: | life |
A Real Life Hero
I write and read epic historical fantasy. One of the central elements of this kind of fiction is an heroic central character. Be they male or female, they are characterised by acts of great courage, of heroism, self-sacrifice and nobility that remind us of the best a human can be ... just as the villains, or anti-heroes, remind us how far we can fall from that ideal in our pursuit of power, or riches, or revenge. I read and write epic fantasy because I like to explore those themes, and dream of perhaps being a little bigger and better than I most often am.
But that's fiction. Sometimes, heroes stand up in real life. I've just learned about one of those people.
Michael Monsoor was a Navy SEAL, who died in Ramadi, Iraq, in September 2006. At that time, Ramadi was a particularly hostile environment, full of unsavoury types bent on as much indiscriminate murder and mayhem as they could achieve. Michael Monsoor and members of his Seal unit were in the field -- on the roof of a building -- and a grenade was thrown at them. It struck Monsoor on the chest, and tumbled away. He realised that due to their positions, while he could escape the grenade's blast, his team-mates couldn't. So he threw himself onto the grenade moments before it exploded. He died, and they lived.
The Iraqi Army scouts, whom this man helped to train, sent their unit's flag to his parents. There was a huge funeral for him in California, and many many many SEALs turned out to honour their fallen brother-in-arms. As they filed past his casket, they removed their SEAL insignia -- a golden trident -- from their uniforms and pressed them onto the walls of the coffin. It took nearly half an hour for the file-past to end ... and when it was finally over, the wooden coffin was covered in gold.
Michael Mansoor has just been posthumously awarded the US Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest decoration possible.
I read and I write about heroes and acts of selfless courage. It touches me deeply, and reassures me in a world full of senseless violence, that there are real-life good guys too. Humans can be and sometimes are more than weak, depraved, greedy, cruel creatures. I don't know if I would ever have the courage to do what Michael Mansoor did. But I take inspiration from his act, and believe that the next time I write a story about a heroic man or woman, in some small way I'm honouring the actions of this Navy SEAL -- and many more like him.
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karenmiller) wrote,
