Heroism, components of

[BillyH]

According to Webster's Neew 20th Century Dictionary, 2nd Edition, page 852, heroism is:
1. the qualities and actions of a hero or heroine.
2. brave, noble action or trait.
The components of heroism are:
Courage: fearlessness of danger
Fortitude: passive courage, the habit of bearing up nobly under trials, dangers and sufferings
Bravery and valor: courage in battle or other 9onfllicts with living opponents
Intrepidity: firm courage which does not shrink from the most appalling dangers
Gallantry: adventurous courage, dashing into the thickest of the fight.
Heroism may call into exercise all these modifications of courage
The same dictionary defines, on page 713, the word foolhardy:
1. foolishly bold and venturesome 2. daring without judgment 3. rash 4. precipitate 5. reckless 6. incautious 7. headlong
Now the the component hardy is defined on page 826 as: 1. bold, brave, daring, resolute 2. stlong, firm, compact 3. too bold, rash; full of temerity 4. inurred to fatigue or exposure, robust, vigorous.
Now in all the threads called "Heroism vs Foolhardiness" are we really defining opposite characteristics (love vs hate, brave vs cowardly, night vs day)? Or is the dictionary telling us that foolhardiness is a characteristic of heroism; not a negation of heroism?
Was it foolhardy for Voss to take on McCudden's flight?
Was it foolhardy for Luke to knock down two balloons and three EAs in ten minutes? Or to take down those three balloons at Murvaux?
Was it foolhardy for those early pilots to get in those machines in the first place?
To do something foolhardy still means that you have to be brave to fight against the odds, and further that many so called foolhardy acts are forced on the flyers by orders, or just being part of a scenario they were forced into. In my old outfit the 8th Fighter Wing, by New Year's Eve, they were down to one plane, but orders were for the pilot to go up to Mig Alley against 300 or so Migs. That was a foolhardy order and the pillot did a foolhardy thing: he went up there, and got him a Mig, and he did a victory roll over the runway that popped the doors on quarters.
And wasn't Doolittle's Raid on Tokio a foolhardy operation? And the fight the Marines made on Guadalcanal?
There is no word in the dictionary such as foolcowardly because cowards would never be so foolish as to do something foolhardy.

[Barrett]

Often foolhardiness is merely poor judgement, with one's life as the penalty for being wrong. Billy, I do not believe that either the Doolittle raid or the Guadalcanal campaign were in the least bit foolhardy--certainly "General Jimmy" didn't think so. He was an extremely calculating aviator (the first aviation PhD) who believed in the Special Aviation Project. (Heaven knows how it'll be portrayed with alec baldwin in the upcoming disney film.)
Operation Watchtower--Guadalcanal--was risky but not foolhardy. It pitted the most capable organization available (1st MarDiv, reinforced) against a far less numerous enemy--until Japanese reinforcements arrived in succession. The planners (JCS, Nimitz, Turner, Vandegrift) did not expect it to evolve into a 6-month meatgrinder, a war of attrition.
I will state, however, that there were foolhardy actions on Cactus. The first that comes to mind was related by Platoon Sgt. Mitchell Paige who received the MOH for saving The Ridge overlooking Henderson Field late one October night. Mitch had a section of Browning M1917s while the Japanese officer leading the attack brought a sword to a machine gun fight.

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Gentlemen:
I have often thought about the courage of the soldier who placed his bdy on top of the grenade to save his comrades, or Sgt. Snuffy Smith who piked up the ignited flare that went off inside a B-17 and carried it to the open bomb bay and dropped it in order to save his plane, Voss taking on BFlight , 56 Squadron. Barker taking on a Jagdgruppe. Alvin York single handed captured 120 German soldiers and countless other acts courage. I think there two things that are common in most of these acts, a great sense of duty and the bond between soldiers that is created as the result of good training. The intense sense of duty in the individual acts like Voss and Luke and bond/love of the fellow soldier/ crew member. I always find this type of courage remarkable.
Blue skies,
Dan-San Abbott

Billy, you are quoting "politically correct" definitions rather than the tried and true shopworn definitions that pre-date the slanted rhetoric in the latest dictionaries.
Gentlemen and ladies, compare Billy's dictionary's definitions with those from a 1949 Webster's dictionary. Seems to me that 1949 is closer to 1917-18 than 2000.
Foolhardy. Daring without judgment. Foolishly bold.
Heroism; the qualities characteristic of a hero; also display of such qualities.
Syn. Valor, prowess, gallantry mean conspicuous bravery or courage, especially in conflict. Heroism implies superlative, often transcendent, courage in fulfilling a superhumanly high purpose where the odds are against one. Valor implies illustrious bravery, especially in fighting and fearlessness and audacity. Prowess stresses brilliant achievements or exploits in arms. Gallantry. Mettle and spirit as well as high courage and an almost gay indifference to danger or hardship.
(NBote the use of the word 'gay', which meant carefree in 1949, instead of 'queer' today.

[Denny]

Happy New Year. Oddly enough, I awoke on this beautiful morning and, within 15 minutes, was thinking about this question. Having read the responses in this string and the last, there has been a lot to chew on. I don't know what seperates bravery from foolhardiness. I mentioned pilots who I believed had taken foolhardy actions. Did they? To me, sitting safely at home, they did. Put into a broader context of time, comradship, duty, etc., perhaps it wasn't foolhardy at all. What struck me this morning, though, was another bit of motivation. I was thinking about Rickenbacker. Here was a kid whose background might cause some to question his patriotism. My God, he had a German name. How do you prove your a patriot? We know how he did it. I then thought about the most decorated unit in the ETO in WWII. They were Japenese-Americans. Their families sitting in interment camps might have also provided some motivation.

There was nothing “foolhardy” about the Guadalcanal operations. It was imperative that the United States begin the island hoping campaign that would eventually bring the Japanese Empire to its knees. As a serious student of the operation, (and having had the honor of visiting the island chain twice), the only “foolhardy” aspect of the operation was Col Goettege’s ill-fated patrol.

Can one seriously consider Marines like John Basilone “foolhardy”? Manning a liquid cooled .30cal all night, by himself, against numerous counter attacks, firing until he suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns on his hand and arms, sneaking back through the lines five or six times to bring back ammo, he managed to kill at least 75 of the enemy. Why did he do this? Because he was told that his section of the FLOT must not collapse.

I think if a situation is forced upon you by military necessity, it cannot be considered “foolhardy”, especially if you benefit in any small way from it. Did “Pip” Prillers’ comrades consider him foolhardy when he made his strafing run during the Normandy invasion? Did the Legionnaires at Dien Bien Phu consider their comrades who jumped in to help them knowing they were going to be over run consider them foolhardy? Were the Israelites who killed themselves at Masada, rather than be captured “foolhardy”?

Unfortunately there were and will be again certain military operations were the word “foolhardy” is an understatement. However brave and noble the idea, what good did Pickets Charge do for the Army Of Northern Virginia, or the Charge of the Light Brigade or the certain aspects of General Clarks campaign in Italy. Did the push toward Antwerp in 1944 accomplish anything for the Wermacht except temporarily capturing St. Vith (and forever staining the reputation of a certain U.S. Infantry Division while at the same time writing a glorious page in the history of 101st Air Borne Division?)? What good came of the campaign of the British (Indian) Army’s attempt to capture Baghdad early in W.W. I.?

I think like beauty, “fool heartedness” is in the eyes of the beholder, or the Monday morning Quarterback. I must agree with Billy H’s closing remarks:

“There is no word in the dictionary such as “foolcowardly” because cowards would never be so foolish as to do something foolhardy”

Watch you six.

Semper Fi
Nick Vitale
Gunnery Sergeant Of Infantry
USMC

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Nick:
It could to hear from you.
Semper Fi
Dan-San

Dear Dan-San,

The pleasure is all mine sir. I was pleasantly surprised when I returned from deployment with the 26 MEU(SOC) to see you had joined the forum.

Semper Fi
Nick Vitale GySgt/USMC