Kyle Carpenter: A True Definition Of A Hero

Romain Rolland once said: “A hero is a man who does what he can.” Everyday you might pass a hero walking down the street and you may not realize it; a hero can be anyone of any age, race, or gender. The true definition of a hero is being ready and willing to fight for others, and having courage by showing determination and exceeding expectations; not having powers with a cape, good lucks, and muscles. Heroes are willing to fight for strangers despite the risk it can have. Putting others before yourself has a big role of being a hero. For example, he is known as the “man in the red bandanna”- Welles Crowther. On September 11, 2001, disaster struck. Planes crashed into the two Twin Towers in the busy Manhattan Island, but one man was ready.

For example, soldiers are always used as an example, but one soldier named Kyle Carpenter. Kyle did something most people would never even think of doing- throwing himself in front of a hand grenade to protect his best friend, and they both lived. Currently 26 year old Kyle Carpenter jumped in front of a hand grenade is 2010 and suffered many injuries, ranging from a skull fracture and a punctured lung and the predicament that he would not survive. Although, roughly 40 surgeries and almost four years later, he received the Medal of Honor from President Obama. Kyle said, “I’m still here and kicking, and I have all my limbs, so you’ll never hear me complain.” One situation made three heroes. Three Americans named Spencer Store, Alek Skarlatos, and Anthony Sadler fought off a man with a sniper to save the lives of people on a train. The three fought the gun man without a doubt. Stone said, “He seemed like he was ready to fight to the end. So were we.” Next, this hero is a real one, but a realistic fiction kind of hero. A poem called A Man by Nina Cassian is about a soldier who loses an arm and thinks about all the things he couldn’t do anymore. Towards the end of the poem, the tone switches from melancholy from determined to do things with more enthusiasm. In the poem, a couple lines show a fantastic example of exceeding expectations. “From that moment on, he set himself to do everything with twice as much as enthusiasm. And where the arm had been torn away, a wing grew.” (Nina Cassian.) These people showed bravery and determination, making them