The Hero Syndrome

The red light on the camera turned on a few seconds after the music started playing in the studio.

A woman speaks, “Welcome. Today is November 29th, 2031, and I am Katie Robinson.”

A second woman takes over, “I am Rhonda McMeyer. We want to thank you for joining us today. You are watching Good Morning Cleveland. The time is 7 minutes till the top of the hour, and in our last segment today, we will be speaking to a bona fide hero.”

Katie continues: “Today, we are joined by Toby Armstead. We are all very familiar with this young man. During the war, he managed to save 28 of his group by rushing full-on into the enemy stronghold and making the area safe. The 13 in the building were using automatic weapons and sniper rifles to take out his teammates systematically.”

Rhonda continued, “Of the 28 in his team, 4 were wounded; one was critical but survived. The enemy soldiers did not survive.” Looking away from the camera, she turned slightly towards Toby, and the camera zoomed in to include him, who was sitting close. “Toby, you are a hero.”

Toby looked down at the floor and ever so slightly shook his head.

Katie asked, “Toby, do you not consider yourself a hero?”

He looked directly at her. “No. I do not.”

Somewhat floored by the response, Rhonda asked, “Why is that?”

Toby took a few breaths and looked at Katie, then at Rhonda. “What I did, I did. But I did not do it for glory, or to be a hero. I did it because I was in the wrong place, at the wrong time.”

“Wrong place? No, you were at the right place.” Katie said.

Toby shifted in his seat a little, uncomfortable by the pomp and circumstance he received from his nation. “No, actually, this is all due to an accident. I got lost and ended up in the wrong building. My GPS was slightly off, leading me to the enemy side of the town square rather than to where my team was pinned down. As I walked in and saw all those people firing out the window, I realized they were wearing the uniforms of the enemy. I removed two grenades from a pocket, pulled the pins, and tossed them towards the window. Then I raised my rifle and began shooting. In five seconds, 13 lives were extinguished.”

Katie closed her mouth. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she said. “But you saved the lives of your team, regardless of whether you were there by accident or by design.” She paused. “So, you do not consider yourself a hero?”

“I do not,” Toby said quietly.

“Then why did you agree to come on the show this morning?”

“To set the record straight. According to the people I saved, the reports written about the incident, and the officers above me who praised me for my ingenuity, ability, stealth, and strategy, I know the truth. I am a screw-up who walked into the wrong building, and when they saw me, they turned their weapons on me. I got scared and tossed grenades at them and started shooting until I ran the magazine dry. I stood there looking at them for a long time, no idea how long. My Lieutenant and Sergeant came up behind me and broke me out of the spell I seemed to be in, and I started shaking. I collapsed, and the LT caught me, thinking I was hit myself.”

“Did they shoot you?”

“No. I had three holes in my uniform. One at the outside of each leg, and one near my left elbow. They did not touch skin.”

“Did you not receive the Silver Star for what you did?”

“I did. The LT put it in as soon as we returned to the base. It was approved in less than two months, and the PR sheet went out on the wire. I have been on 11 programs around the country, and I am beginning to get tired of reiterating how I stole the life of 13 people and received an award for doing it.” He looked down. “I am not a hero; I just happen to find myself in a place that I should not have been and got scared. When they saw me, they turned and started shooting. I suppose they saw me toss the grenades at them, which is why they turned. When they raised their weapons at me, I started shooting. So, NO! I am not a hero; I was well entrenched in performing a CYA activity.”

The women smiled; they knew the meaning of CYA. A half minute passed in silence.

“Toby,” Rhonda said, “What is a hero?”

“Not me, that’s for certain.”

Katie added, “An accidental hero is someone who becomes a hero by chance or without seeking it. You were not looking to take out the enemy ambushing your team, but you did.”

Rhonda asked, “So, your reputation is not that of a military badass or a soldier hell-bent on taking out the enemy. Although this is the reputation you seem to have acquired. Now you are telling us the truth of the matter is…. Your reputation in your unit is what?”

“I’m the comedy relief. During training, people would watch me and laugh.”

Katie asked, “But you completed your training, right?”

“Yes.” He replied.

“You are a certified member of the team that you saved.”

“I am. Where are you going with this? I was in the lower score for every single test of skill.”

“But you passed. That is the reason there is a minimum. You beat the minimum. You passed.”

Rhonda added, “Because you passed and were with your team, they all survived. All 28 of them are here and alive because of a screw-up who got lost and wandered into an enemy stronghold by accident and did not turn and run. He removed the threat he saw and survived, which allowed his team to survive. You, sir, do have a bad reputation. It is not that of a hero; it is the reputation of a man who did what he had to do, an accidental hero, maybe. But not that of a coward or a screw-up.”

“I appreciate those kind words, but to me, I simply did what I had to do to survive.”

Katie looked into the camera, and it zoomed in tight on her face. “Well, ladies and gentlemen, you be the judge. Is Toby a hero for saving the lives of his mates, or is he just a screw-up who managed to do something that turned out good? Personally, I feel he is both. Being tagged a screw-up does not mean you have no skills; it is just a label. He overcame that label and turned the tide on the ambush."

Rhonda said, “Thanks for watching today’s program. We look forward to being with you tomorrow morning at 7, where we will speak to Toby’s Lieutenant regarding how she feels about the award, about the new reputation he is desperately trying to dispel, and about the fact she is still here because of Toby Armstead.”

Katie took over, “Have a good day today and do something nice for someone.”