By Abe Villarreal
In the recent film Hacksaw Ridge, a young private named Desmond Doss became an unlikely hero because of his refusal to hold a firearm while he was enlisted and deployed during the Second World War.
Doss's story is now famous because of the hit movie directed by Mel Gibson, but how many of you knew of his unusual heroics? How many knew that he became the first conscientious observer to be awarded the Medal of Honor? I didn't.
The Battle of Okinawa lasted 82 days and was no joke. Ferocious fighting in the Japanese Ryukyu Islands during the summer of 1945 became the bloodiest battle of the Pacific. It resulted in more than 12,500 American soldiers being dead or missing, and the number would have been larger if it weren't for the life-saving acts of an Army Medic from Lynchburg, Virginia. The Desmond Doss story is a true profile in courage.
There are others, yet they remain unknown as the years pass by and as modern day heroes are created by simple acts such as giving a used coat to a homeless person or providing a meal to a hungry child. These are wonderful gestures but certainly not the profiles in courage of people like Nicholas Winton.
More formally known as Sir Nicholas George Winton, for more than four decades, most people were not aware of the nearly 700 mostly Jewish children saved by Winton beginning in the spring of 1939.
Just as Czechoslovakia was in the process of being occupied by Nazi-ruled Germany, Winton quietly unfolded an elaborate scheme to transport young children to Britain by train. He eventually saved 669 children who would have ended up in Nazi death camps.
Winton convinced parents to leave their children in his hands, giving his trust to those parents, most who would be killed in concentration camps. He provided a safe haven for the infants via seven trains just on the eve of the war. Winton kept this a secret to the world, even from his wife, until the late 1980s.
What Sir Winton and Private Doss have in common is that they never believed they were heroes. They didn't film their dramatic life decisions to post online. They didn't write books and make the talk show circuit. They didn't expect their 15 minutes of fame.
What are today's profiles in courage? I'm sure there are many. Your neighbors and loved ones are doing remarkable things, helping people in need and making a difference. We may not know about these heroic acts until after they finish their life chapter with us on earth, and that's OK.
GǣIt is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.Gǥ - Harry Truman
Abe Villarreal is the Director of Communications at Western New Mexico University. When not on campus, he enjoys writing about his observations on marketing, life, people and American traditions.