Exemplary (But Generally Unknown) Americans

It discredits our media outlets -- and would shame them if they had any capacity for shame  -- that they focus on crimes committed by sociopaths, inexplicably deranged doings by strange people, and -- pardon the redundancy -- the activities of the creeps in government. The journalice pay little or no attention to, and report little or nothing about the noblesse oblige displayed by ordinary citizens as they routinely engage in inspiring and laudable actions. 


Consequently, almost everyone in the country knows everything that can be turned up about Casey Anthony, on whom our jounalice have devoted prodigious amounts of broadcast air time and quantities of paper and ink, but few know anything about or even recognize the name of of such awesomely admirable individuals as:

  Ed  W. "Too Tall" Freeman

and

Christian Lopez.

We are just days away from the third anniversary of the death of the first of the above named individuals, who, for altogether different reasons, should be recognized as examples to be emulated by our children and grandchildren . . . by all future generations of Americans.

Retired U.S. Army Major Freeman was an extraordinarily heroic soldier whose actions saved many of his brothers in arms from annihilation. Some of his exploits are detailed in the earlier post on this blog that can be accessed by clicking here, and more complete details of his life (including how he came to be called "too tall") were set forth in this hometown newspaper's obituary after the death of the 80-year-old Congressional Medal of Honor recipient.

Mr. Lopez is an admirable example not for any battlefield heroics but for the generosity of spirit he displayed as a baseball fan after he snagged the home run ball with which Derek Jeter last week became one of the game's fewer than 30 elite players ever to record 3,000 hits. Baseball memorabilia collectors, anticipating that hit, were prepared to bid up  to, and perhaps even more than a quarter of a million dollars for that ball. Mr. Lopez, a 23-year-old former St. Lawrence University football player, gladly gave the ball to Jeter, without asking for anything in return. He said it never occurred to him to keep it. "Mr Jeter deserved it," said Mr. Lopez. "It's all his." That gracious and thoughtful action was reported almost in passing near the end of the media's sports section accounts of Jeter's accomplishment. * In my opinion, the spontaneous display of character and generosity by Mr. Lopez was more significant and noteworthy than the setting of any athletic record.


It is gratifying that among our fellow citizens with ordinary backgrounds we still have extraordinary individuals like Major Freeman and Mr. Lopez. 

Would that our country and our institutions today were led, as it once was, by individuals with the character, generosity, and integrity of such heroic figures instead of by the collection of self seeking cretinous careerists that we currently have running things.  We have only ourselves to blame for this as we get and have to live with the creeps that we choose.
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*  P.S.  A happy exception to this was provided by The Wall Street Journal, which carried this piece focusing largely on the singularity of Mr. Lopez's unselfishness.