I remember when America’s beloved hero Captain Richard Phillips hit the lottery back in the day with books and films made about him. On the surface, my first reaction is, “Good for him!” The captain whose valor reminds us of the good part of America. If anyone deserves a nice paycheck, it’s him after dealing with Somali pirates and bullets flying past his head.

Below the surface, I couldn’t help but feel sad that our heroes cash in and turn heroism into some financial windfall. It almost weakens the stature of their selfless actions. I want to believe that my heroes are just people who do things out of bravery with gravitas. The thought of them driving to their local banks with a smile on their face and depositing huge sums of money in their bank accounts kind of shaves a little off the top of the heroism for me. Now I’m not a hypocrite or some holy roller. If I were in their shoes, I’d take the money, fame, and financial security for my family.

However, I want to believe my heroes are better than most of us. I know they are just regular people who could never turn down the financial security for themselves and their families. Still, it must be said that accepting the money and prolonging the fame, does fall short of our greatest aspirations. It leaves a “tiny” stain on the memory of heroes and their actions. Heroes have the integrity to even perform their acts but afterward, we in America seem to poison it with our “Hero Fatigue Syndrome” by building them up and then tearing them down.

We muddy these brave acts with voyeurism and cash. We forget that the true heroes are the ones whom we never even know their names, they walk away anonymously and just pay it forward. I am reminded of my CCD classes in Catholic Sunday School where they tried to shape our morals with teachings like, “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” or “when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.”

Many souls walking the Earth today might not have been as brave at the moment as our heroes in different circumstances. I stand among a grateful nation that cheers them. At the same time, the acceptance of herohood and the money, can at the end of the day, leave you oceans away from where you once stood as our hero. I felt the presence of angels watching over Captain Richard Phillips in the  Somalia Gulf of Aden that day. However, it wasn’t angels waiting for him at the ATM. “Hero Fatigue Syndrome” knows no mercy.

C. Rich

CRich@AmericaSpeaksInk.com

C. Rich

C. Rich is the voice behind America Speaks Ink, home to the America First Movement. As an author, poet, freelance ghostwriter, and blogger, C. Rich brings a “baked-in” perspective shaped by growing up on the streets and beaches of South Florida in the 1970s-1980s and brings a quintessential Generation-X point of view.

Rich’s writing journey began in 2008 with coverage of the Casey Anthony trial and has since evolved into a wide-ranging exploration of politics, culture, and the issues that define our times. Follow C. Rich’s writing odyssey here at America Speaks Ink and on Amazon with a four-book series on Donald Trump called “Trump Era: The MAGA Files” and many other books and subjects C. Rich is known to cover.

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