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Heroes: Real or Imagined?
By
Bob Orrick
Hero: a person who does great and brave deeds and is admired for them; a person admired for contributing to a particular field. Gage Canadian Dictionary.
Hero: a person noted or admired for courage, outstanding achievements, nobility; a great warrior. The Oxford English Reference Dictionary.
In Canada, it seems, heroes are not placed on pedestals to be admired for their courage or achievements, but, rather, are attacked and vilified. A prime example of that is Canada's World War One ace pilot, Billy Bishop. His accomplishments in a relatively short period during the Great War are the stuff legends are made of; yet, in Canada, stories have appeared to question his exploits and to attach some degree of questioning to Bishop's actions. With seventy-two enemy airplanes shot down, he stood at the top of the class; he was unparalleled as a fighter pilot. Moreover, William Avery 'Billy' Bishop was the first Canadian airman to be awarded the Victoria Cross. His final victory came 19 June 1918 when he shot down five enemy aircraft. A hero? Most certainly.
Another Canadian hero from that same era was William George 'Billy' Barker of Manitoba. This Billy shot down fifty-three enemy airplanes. Billy Barker is best remembered for his epic, single-handed battle against sixty German aircraft. For that, he was awarded the Victoria Cross. A hero? No doubt about it.
Canadian physician John McCrae was a hero. The Ontario doctor served his country in WWI and penned the world-famous "In Flanders Fields" known as the 'anthem' of November 11th. His words, so simple yet so pure, have touched the hearts of people across the country who annually attend at Cenotaphs to recognize the valour and heroism of other Canadians who gave their lives to that others might live in peace.
Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, is a hero. After emigrating to Canada from Scotland along with his father and family in 1870, Bell devoted his life to helping others. For a while, he followed his father's interest in speech therapy. From that, Bell invented the telephone. He patented the idea in the USA and founded the Bell Telephone Company in 1876. Bell died at Baddeck, Nova Scotia on 02 August 1922. Among his other accomplishments are photoelectric cell, the iron lung, desalination of seawater, the phonograph, and an attempt to breed 'super sheep' at Baddeck. Additionally, Bell was involved in aerial experiments. The 'Silver Dart,' the first airplane to fly in Canada, was Bell's idea. In 1919, his HD-4 set a world speed record of 114.04 km/h. The record stood for a decade. In the USA, Bell collaborated with S.P. Langley in building steam-powered aircraft. Bell funded early atomic experiments. A hero to this day.
Ontario-born Frederick Grant Banting and Maine-borne Charles Herbert Best make the list. Together, they discovered insulin. In the early 1920s, at the University of Toronto, Banting and Best unlocked the secret of the long-sought internal secretion of the pancreas. Today, millions of people worldwide live a relatively normal life because of Banting and Best's discovery. Banting and Best are heroes of the first order.
From World War Two, Canadian hero General Guy Granville Simonds in on the list. First, he is credited with developing personnel-carrier tactics during the Normandy Invasion. Second, he was much favoured by Field Marshal Montgomery; to be favoured by Montgomery, well known for his outbursts, is enough to make the list. General Simonds was perhaps the most successful Canadian general of WWII. A hero to the end.
From the Korean War era, two Canadians, among many, are worth noting. First, Captain Jeffry Brock [later admiral], commanding officer of HMCS Cayuga, 1950-51. At a time when the Communist Chinese entered the war on North Korea's side, an evacuation of Chinnampo, the port of Pyongyang was ordered. This was to prepare for the withdrawal of Inchon. Captain Brock had a squadron of six destroyers, three Canadians, two Australians and one American. The squadron was assigned to protect the withdrawal. The military situation was serious and there was danger that the communists might attack the port. Brock's squadron was ordered to enter the harbour and be prepared to provide fire support. The passage to Chinnampo was hazardous in daylight but doubly so at night when the ships were to make the transit. The channel was narrow, shallow and seeded with mines. Brock, through superb navigation, managed to transit the channel; however, the American destroyer ran aground, as did one of the Canadian ships. For his accomplishment, Brock saved the city against enemy attack. He and his crew are heroes. The second Korean War hero is Brigadier J.M. Rockingham. 'Rocky,' as he was affectionately called, was the senior Canadian soldier in Korea. He masterful tactics and determination that the Canadian Army would not shirk from its assigned duties, was instrumental in the success that the Canadian Army enjoyed in the hellhole that was known as the Korean War. He, too, is a hero.
There have been other heroes beyond those identified here; there is however, one more, of more recent time, to add to the list of Canadian heroes.
Sergeant Marc Leger died at the hands of an errant bomb unleashed by a 'gung ho' American National Guard pilot who thought he was under attack while patrolling in Afghanistan during the war there. It is not, however, Leger's death in Afghanistan that puts him on the list. During an earlier time in Bosnia, Sergeant Marc Leger became known as 'King Marco.' During his time in Bosnia, Leger was exposed to the horrors of 'ethnic cleansing.' In the Livno Valley, Bosnia, 'King Marco' is hailed as a hero. While on his peacekeeping [a misnomer] tour of duty, Leger was charged with disarming potential insurgents and providing security for all ethnic groups. Additionally, he was given the responsibility of assisting returning Serb refugees as they settled back into their communities. Most of the farmhouses had been destroyed by a rampaging Croat army hell bent to ethnically cleanse the area of all Serbs. The Croats killed or drove off livestock, poisoned wells, destroyed Serb Orthodox churches and laid land mines. One Serb family that managed to survive by fleeing, returned to their homeland only to face a place of destruction. With their few possessions, the family of Miorad Kozomara began to rebuild their home; all that remained from before was their house with its partial roof but little else; no doors, no windows, no livestock, and no seed to plant a crop. One day, a jeep with some Canadian soldiers arrived and told the Kozomara family that they were there to help. Sergeant Marc Leger was their leader.
When he saw the desperate state that faced the Serb family, Canadian Leger "badgered the local United Nations High Commission of Refugees' representative and any aid agency that drove through the area." For six months, Leger hounded the UN representative and other officers for resources. [Canwest news service]
"He took leftover and thrown-away building supplies and distributed them while on patrol. He snuck food from the camp kitchen and spirited off the camp water truck when no one was looking." [ibid.]
Leger managed to pry money from the Canadian International Development Agency to re-roof 28 local houses. One re-roofed house is emblazoned with the Canadian Maple Leaf and the CIDA logo. [ibid.]
Recently, when the Serbs in the Livno Valley learned of Sergeant Marc Leger's death, they mourned. One said, "We never could have returned to this valley without the help of that big Canadian soldier." [ibid.]
The Kozomara family learned of King Marc's death through one of their sons who lives in Canada. The news of Sergeant Leger's death shattered Mrs. Kozomara. "I got very nervous and started crying as if my son had died," she said. [ibid.]
Sergeant Leger's widow, Marley Leger, will take the proceeds of the 'Sergeant Marc Leger Memorial Fund' to local officials so that a gutted schoolhouse can be rebuilt as a community centre and medical clinic. A plaque will be attached to the building; the plaque dedicates the building to Sergeant Marc Leger's memory. 'King Marc's' memory lives on.
Of the aforementioned Canadian heroes, Sergeant Marc Leger is the one that stands out. His heroism truly qualifies as "a person who does great and brave deeds and is admired for them"
The Latin expression, Audaces fortuna juvat seems appropriate.
Bob Orrick is a private tutor of English grammar, literature, poetry and Canadian history to off-shore youngsters. His pupils hail from such places as Taiwan, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Venezuela. He was previously in international marketing, was a ministerial assistant to a provincial cabinet minister, spent a few years as a reporter then editor of a community newspaper and enjoyed a career in the Royal Canadian Navy.
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