Some Heroes Survive...

The Highest Price

Why would a guy throw himself on a grenade knowing he would die?

                          
Why?

Greater love hath no man than this

That he would lay down his life for his friends

For Love…Dedication...Duty...Honor...Country...

In a rice patty, a desert plain, a city street

Khe Sanh

Mogadishu

Fallujah

Kandahar

Beat the drum slowly to echo the final fleeting beat of a heart

So noble, so pure

To endure the pain of death for friends

In battle warriors win honor, respect, and the title hero

They display valor above and beyond the call of duty

Most of them, posthumously

After they paid the highest price

The Highest Price

Heroes get awards:

Congressional Medals of Honor

Distinguished Service Crosses

Silver Stars

Bronze Stars

Purple Hearts

We put their names on walls for all to see

For all to grieve the loss of valiant souls

Then, they are laid in graves

Buried 

Their secrets, sins, and fleshly desires

Buried

Their lust and passions, failings and flaws

All washed away the moment they died a heroic death

Purified by sacrifice

To die like that

TO DIE LIKE THAT

A glorious way to erase the stain of human frailty

To be hailed a hero for all eternity

Unstained by controversy

Because everyone loves a hero

Especially a dead one

The highest price?

Some heroes survive…

Outliving their glory, becoming has-beens

Shadows of their own brilliance

Burnt into the sidewalks of pedestrian life

Where their legacies are trampled upon

Maybe they should have retired in their primes

Maybe they should have faded away

So they could stay immortal to their admirers

These heroes…

They don’t know why they survived

They envy the ones who died

And, if you ask them, they’ll tell you

Why a guy would throw himself on a grenade knowing he would die

The Highest Price

To reach the pinnacle of admiration

Only to topple because people can’t bear to see

The humanity embodied in a hero who survived