There are Heroes

"U.S. Soldier Re-Enlists Hours After Being Seriously Wounded in Iraq IED Attack" tells about Specialist Christopher Hoyt, an infantryman who decided to re-enlist for another four years, after two of his fellow-soldiers were killed in the IED explosion that left cuts on his legs and body.

The top non-commissioned officer of Hoyt's brigade, Command Sergeant Major John Troxell, said: "It takes a person of very strong character to go through an incident where another soldier five feet away was killed, and he was severally wounded, and still say 'I believe in what we are doing and I want to stay on the team. I want to support the United States Army and my country,' "

I was in college in the seventies, so I'm aware of the sort of psychobabble about survivor's guilt, at least, that can be invoked to explain Hoyt's decision. I'm inclined to agree with Sergeant Major Troxell, though.

Like the Iraqi shieks whose determination to save their country became stronger when fanatics killed one of them, I believe that Specialist Hoyt made a rational choice, based on good sense and bravery.

I'm not "conservative," in the American political sense, but I am one of those people who believe that courage exists, and that there still are heroes. And that the soldiers like Specialist Christopher Hoyt, who decide to make sacrifices for their country and fellow-citizens, are heroes.

Related posts, on Individuals and the War on Terror.