May 31, 2017
On May 26, 2017, these three men showed their true colors. They showed that they are truly different from the rest of us by sacrificing their own lives for the protection of two completely strangers.
Two women, one African American and the other one a Muslim woman wearing Islamic cover (Hijab) while waiting for a train at a Portland train station, were being taunted and scolded by a 35-year-old white supremacist, Jeremy Christian. These three heroes without second thoughts went to the rescue of these two women. The white supremacist attacked all these three men with a knife.
Rick Best, a 53 years old man, married and father of four children who was going home was stabbed in the neck and died of his wounds. He was a soldier and had served in the military for 23 years. He survived the rigor and dangers of serving in the military, but could not survive the dangers of walking on the streets of America.
Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, a 23 years old man who had just graduated from university and receiving his bachelor’s degree in Economics also died of his wounds in his neck. His hopes and dreams of having a good life after graduation died with him.
Micah Fletcher, a 21 year old man who was in the train went to the rescue, but he was also stabbed in the neck. Fortunately, he survived and now is recovering from his wounds.
Rick Best was a Republican and worked in the Republican Party. Taliesin just graduated from one of the most liberal universities in the USA. These two men coming from different political dimensions did not care about their political affiliation and what their parties were all about. All they could see was that two innocent women were being taunted by this white supremacist.
We have all used the word hero in our daily conversation. In fact many people use the word hero when talking about a basketball, football, or baseball player and other celebrities who have achieved some glorious moments in their lives. Hero means a person who puts his/her own safety and endangers himself/herself in order to save or protect another individual from harm. A person who jumps into river to save a drowning person is a hero. A person who runs into a burning house to save the occupants is a hero. A soldier who dodges bullets in order to rescue his comrade from an imminent danger is a hero.
These three men truly defined what the word hero means. They endangered their own lives in order to protect two strangers from harms. They never had a second thought about what they were doing and all they were thinking was to prevent any harms to come to these two women whom they had never seen and known
We must all be proud of having these three heroes among us, even though two of them have left this world, but their memories and what they did should never leave us.
In the name of humanity we should thank these three heroes. We should also remember that every time we use the word HERO, first we must remember these three individuals and then see if we are using the word hero properly, as these three individuals have truly defined the word Hero.
