What is a hero? [View all]

[cynatnite]

MSNBC's Chris Hayes says this:

“I feel… uncomfortable, about the word because it seems to me that it is so rhetorically proximate to justifications for more war. Um, and, I don’t want to obviously desecrate or disrespect memory of anyone that’s fallen, and obviously there are individual circumstances in which there is genuine, tremendous heroism, you know, hail of gunfire, rescuing fellow soldiers, and things like that. But it seems to me that we marshal this word in a way that is problematic. But maybe I’m wrong about that.”

I think I agree with Chris Hayes. I always saw heroes as those who put their lives at risk in order to save others. Whether it's in battle, a house fire, drowning or other dangers...if someone risked their life in order to save someone, they were a hero.

It seems like that the term "hero" gets tossed around so easily to apply to anyone that's ever put on a uniform. Maybe it's used to make it easier to send our troops off to war and to not mind so much when they die.

Do you think this is an overused word? How do you feel about it?