What Makes a True Hero

I remember ten years ago, I was sitting in school doing schoolwork. I had just started fifth grade a few weeks prior, and was so excited just to see what this year would bring.

I sat in my desk, quietly doing my grammar work. My friends were sitting next to me, across from me, basically doing the same. Everyone seemed completely at ease without much of a care in the world. My teacher was quietly sitting at her computer.

My homeroom fifth grade teacher was wonderful. She was always in a great mood, smiling, telling us funny stories to help us with our lessons. She had short, curly red hair, which just added to her whimsical nature. So, it was definitely strange to hear her be upset over anything.

The silence in the room suddenly broke when she said, “Oh no! A plane crashed into one of the twin towers!”

Gasps suddenly went up, along with the sound of pencils dropping. Murmurs and worried talk went up all over the room. I continued to stay quiet. I had no clue what the twin towers even were until then. However, I figured it must be pretty serious since most of the other kids were getting upset over it.

A few minutes later, a woman came over the intercom and told us that we needed to turn on our televisions. When we had turned it on, the second plane had hit only very shortly before. Later, we watched as word got out that a plane crashed into the Pentagon and as the two towers collapsed.

I remember sitting at the after school program discussing it with my friends, and all of us were quite scared at everything occuring.

I was so young, I couldn’t completely understand what was going on. This was the very first time that I had ever heard the words “terrorists”, “hi-jacking” as well as a few other things. It was a very eye-opening day for me because I never knew until then just how heartless and horrible people could really be.

However, this day also showed how strong people could be. This day showed us how selfless and caring the human race could be. This day showed us what heroes actually were. So many of the emergency workers as well as regular civilians risked their lives or ultimately gave them up.

It reminds of the words in Romans 5:6-8: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Those people who saved many lives that day and ultimately gave up their own, didn’t have to. However, they did it anyway because they knew that they needed to put others needs ahead of their own. When Jesus Christ died for us, he didn’t have to give up his life for us; but he did. He did it because He loved us, and He knew that to save our lives, he needed to give up His own.
To me, that is what defines a true hero: someone who will sacrifice their own well-being to help others. That’s exactly what Jesus did and those people on 9-11-01. If the situation arises, will we be able to put others ahead of ourselves? Let’s hope that we can.