I grew up with a strong appreciation of the courageous sacrifices made for the cause of freedom by men and women aound the world, in almost every age and culture of humanity that we know of. The struggle for religious liberty, in Europe and America, the struggle for personal freedom for the laboring classes of serfs, slaves, villeins or indentured servants, the struggle to change the hearts of men by persuasion, not by violence; there is no shortage of challenges to the human spirit, nor will there ever be, as long as we are people, not angels. Knowing of the deeds of other men and women can inspire hope and faith that living for a cause, and if need be, dying for that cause, is within the grasp of anyone with sufficient dedication and strength of will. There are heroes and martyrs of every race and creed. White boys can be heroes, too. These white men by their lives showed their devotion to a greater cause than their own self-interest, and are true role models to aspire to imitate, each in his own way.
Robert Gould Shaw
Tom Paine
These are the times that try men's souls...
Dr. Norman Bethune
In Memory of Norman Bethune
John Lennon
A working class hero is something to be...
