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Grant Hemingson
Ms. Cooper
AP English Language
31 January 2014
Heroes
Throughout history, there have been countless heroes that societies have looked up to.
War heroes, political heroes, literary heroes, legendary heroes- some have changed the course of
history, some of civilization, and some of literature. Looking back on many of these people, its
easy to see that many of them brought about change. Change is the common denominator, in a
way. Theres this quote about change by Gandhi which is often oversimplified:If we could
change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own
nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him... We need not wait to see what
others do. For me, this quote outlines what it means to be a hero. A hero is a person who worked
to change and better themselves in an attempt to be the change they wanted to see in the world,
and stood up for what they believed in.
By this definition, Corporal Ira Hayes, one of the six men who famously raised the
American flag at Iwo Jima in 1945 near the end of WWII, is a hero. In response to being named
an American hero by the people, he replied, How could I feel like a hero when only five men in
my platoon of 45 survived, when only 27 men in my company of 250 managed to escape death
or injury?" This reaction is not uncommon among soldiers; this was another of the thousands of
cases of guilt-ridden soldiers who repeatedly asked, Why me? and wondered Why did I get to
survive? Many of the veterans of WWII dont consider themselves heroes for this very reason,
but, contrary to their beliefs, each and every one of these men are heroes. They are heroes

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because they left their families to protect and defend people they had never met. They are heroes
because they knew the chances of never returning home again, yet they obeyed the call of duty.
They are heroes because they risked their lives to serve their country and to rescue those who
could not save themselves. They are heroes because they wanted to see a free flag fly, because
they wanted to liberate the thousands who were dying at the hands of Hitler, and so they waded
through the trenches of war and looked death in the face to be this change. They are heroes
because they stood up for what they believed in, freedom, life, and liberty.
It was these three rights that Martin Luther King Jr. fought for only a few generations
later. During the 1960s, he was the leader of a civil rights movement whose goal was to make
America a truly free country by liberating its African American citizens from the hold of racial
segregation and injustice. Near the pinnacle of his career and of the movement, Martin Luther
King Jr. was killed for his beliefs and his involvement in gaining equality for African Americans.
He, too, grew as an individual and grew into a leader so that he could be the change he wanted to
see in his world. He stood up for what he believed in. And although issues of racial tension are
not solved today, in the twenty-first century, America now has its very first African American
president in the White House, just fifty years after men like Martin Luther King Jr. and thousands
of other activists held their ground through persecution, jail time, and threats in the name of what
they believed in, and for what they knew needed to change.
Not every hero belongs to a massive movement for monumental change, however. On a
much smaller scale, heroes abound in the world every day. For example, take my fathers best
friend, a former drug addict. He lost his right leg when he was high and was ran over by a train
on tracks in the area. Now nicknamed David Walker, he takes troubled youth out on extended
hiking trips and mentors them in the hopes that he can prevent them from making life-changing

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mistakes as he did himself through guidance and leading by example. He is a hero because he,
like many before him, has risen up and worked to better himself so that he could be the change
he wants to see in the world today- and this is what a hero looks like to me in this day and age.
Today, the word hero is so often overused, interpreted and viewed out of context, and,
ultimately, has lost much of its true meaning and significance as the world changes and moves
away from what the word should represent. Hero is relative to the era, to the times. It constitutes
somebody who, despite adversity, difficulties, or setbacks, worked to change and better
themselves in an attempt to be the change they wanted to see in the world, and stood up for what
they believed in against injustice, trials, or troubles. Its under this definition that men like
Corporal Hayes earn the title of hero, as do men and women in every field who strive to change
the world through their actions, and fight for what they believe in.