Last Updated:Friday - 09/24/2010

Canadian heros stand by their ideals

The heroes of a nation are those who will stand up for their ideals while sacrificing fame and fortune. We talk about Canadian hockey heroes. But while it provided great joy to see Canadian teams win gold medals at the recent Winter Olympics, generously paid pro hockey players are not the sort of heroes we are talking about.

Many volunteers are heroes, giving countless hours to help some individual or good cause. Priests and sisters are heroes, toiling in obscurity to bring about greater awareness of the kingdom of God.

Likewise, it's about time we viewed members of Canada's Armed Forces as heroes. These are people who work an unglamorous job generally for poor pay and with poor resources. They do it because they believe in some ideal greater than themselves.

The killings in Afghanistan of Sgt. Marc Leger, Pte. Richard Gareau, Pte Nathan Smith and Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer was an enormous tragedy. It was an even-greater tragedy because they died, not fighting for their ideals, but in a senseless accident.

The investigations that will necessarily follow may cloud over one fact. These men are heroes. They died senselessly. But they represent some of the best of what we have to offer in Canada.

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