Yeah, Right, Whatever

honor: on-er tr.v. hon·ored, hon·or·ing, hon·ors
1. To hold in respect; esteem.
2. To show respect for.

hero* : he·ro –noun, plural -roes; for 5 also -ros.
1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.
2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child.

How do we honor heroes? How do we recognize those who go above and beyond for those around them? How do we preserve their stories for posterity's sake?

Let me throw out some ideas. Parades? A couple of times a year, and quite often those in attendance don't even remember (if they ever actually knew) what the parades are honoring. Statues, memorial plaques, memorial services? Sure... for some. Awards (medals, commendations, etc.)? Once again, for some. A simple "thank you"? Not often enough.

Well, here's one more suggestion, one that I hope really catches on. (And, no, I can't take credit for it- Mark's family told me about their efforts to get this done in Mark's hometown.) What about naming streets after heroes? Not necessarily renaming already existing streets (although, given the names of some streets, I'd be okay with that), but naming new streets (in new neighborhoods, etc) after the heroes from that particular town.

But, then I guess we have to ask "who is a hero?" For the sake of this discussion, I'd be pretty picky. Military personnel who have paid the ultimate price defending our country... Congressional Medal of Honor winners... members of law enforcement and the fire fighting community who died in the line of duty... you get the idea.

How do you do it? It's not all that difficult, but it's not that easy, either. Find out who the real heroes are in your town. Talk to the mayor and let him know what you're thinking about. Talk to developers in your area who are putting in new neighborhoods (they're always looking for ideas for road names). If you're feeling ambitious, talk to the governor's office and see if there are any new state roads going in that need naming.

Seriously, it can't be all that difficult. I mean, how many Congress Critters have highways named after them simply because they pushed through funding for it (Senator Byrd, I'm looking at you). I'm sure that we can come up with a long list of people much more worthy of an honor of this magnitude.

Think about it. Say a street in a new neighborhood is named after (insert hero here). Houses are built on that street, and suddenly you have a bunch of people using that person's name every day (it is their address, after all). Fifteen or twenty years from now, someone on that street gets curious about who (insert hero here) was. They do a little research, and that hero's story is told again. And again. And their heroism just might inspire someone to be a hero themselves.

It's just a thought... anybody want to see what might happen if we actually try it?

* Many writers today consider "hero" to be gender neutral, and that's how I'm using it in my post. Technically, however, if you're talking about a female who has heroic qualities, she is a "heroine", not a "hero."