"does this world still have heroes" - ROTC essay Contest

For an ROTC essay, you would need to take the stance that the world does indeed have heroes and focus on the military heroes. Stay-at-home moms could certainly be construed as heroes as could college professors, but you need to consider the purpose. How about something on our Medal of Honor winners? Even though the military has drastically cut back on the number of Medals of Honor it awards (in part because warfare has changed and is not as face-to-face as it was in previous wars), we still have heroes. There are only 95 living MoH recipients. Only six Medals have been awarded since Vietnam and all of those were posthumously.

Or ... do you know a veteran you could highlight? My Uncle Ercole just died this past week at the age of 90 (I am named after him). He was a World War II vet. He was awarded a couple of Purple Hearts and and a Bronze Star, but the real heroism I see in him is his willingness and ability to rise to the occasion when duty called. Going from a mill worker who had never been more than a few dozen miles away from his small town in the Colorado mountains to fighting in a war in Africa, Asia, and Europe (yes, he has service medals from all three arenas) must have been quite the change.

Or ... you could highlight just one Medal of Honor winner. George Sakato was a friend of my grandfather's when they worked together at the Post Office. He earned his Medal of Honor in World War II, but it wasn't awarded until 2000. Sakato is a Japanese American and prejudice kept him from receiving the medal he was due at the time. His family was forced to sell their produce store in California at a great loss and relocate to the interior--Arizona in their case. When he tried to enlist, "Enemy Alien" was stamped on his rejection letter. He was eventually allowed to join a segregated unit that fought in Europe. Sakato made a one-man attack on an enemy emplacement. Even though he was wounded and greatly outnumbered, he heroically took out the emplacement in a fashion reminiscent of Sergeant York.

Or ... you could focus on a particular job in the military and how that is heroic. Even someone manning a radar screen is vital.

Notoman
Heyy um....i try my best to reply to many post and i thank you alot because most of what you said has helped me quite abit and i realized somethings i hadnt even thought about..i am so sorry for the passing of you Grandfather as well as i am grateful that his friend finnaly got what he deserve no matter the color of his skin or the country he originated from