When the late U.S. president Ronald Reagan delivered his first inaugural address in 1981, he said people who declared it was a time of no heroes are ones who just don't know where to look.
Fast-forward 35 years and many just might say we are in that time again as desperately needed heroes appear to be in short supply.
This month, two genuine heroes, Muhammad Ali and Gordie Howe, passed away. Both were incredible athletes. Both men gave away everything good about themselves to make a better world. That's how it works. Ali and Howe instinctively knew the meaning of the adage that good people can only keep what they have by freely giving it away.
In today's world we can still look to sports and the arts for new heroes, or we can search through the rosters of those who play in the political and social arenas. Every once in a while a feel-good heroism story comes to light, but that is rare, as self-seeking motives too often overtake intentions of selflessness.
Thankfully, however, heroes emerged last month during the wildfire battle in Fort McMurray. Hundreds of firefighters, many of them volunteers from small rural communities, sacrificed everything to do what was necessary under challenging and dangerous circumstances. The world watched in awe.
But what of the ones who may be sitting diffidently at a coffee shop, or pass quietly by on the streets, and who may have played a heroic part in something big, like the Fort McMurray wildfire? And yet, as Reagan suggested, too many of us just did not know about their heroism or where to find them.
Here in Innisfail, heroes are sitting every day at the legion having a coffee, a meal or a beer. Henry Howard is one of them. Quiet and unassuming, he is there every Friday for fish and chips.
Last weekend during his 100th birthday celebration at the legion his heroism was finally honoured for his role on D-Day. He stormed Juno Beach in a tank. He faced murderous enemy gunfire. His tank unit survived the battle and forged ahead inland where the enemy's determined defence continued. He came home after the war. Tens of thousands of Canadians did not.
For the next 71 years Howard worked quietly on his farm, and then retired. For the past three decades this unassuming gentle man has been part of the community. He sought no special recognition.
But he was and still is a hero, and thankfully there were those, notably Arno Glover, the legion's manager, who took the time to look and find out more about Howard's heroism on a cold and blustery morning on June 6, 1944 when he tossed notions of his own survival into the windswept, cold English Channel. He was frightened but doing his bit to secure freedom for the millions back home in his country was paramount.
He never, ever felt the need to talk about what he did on D-Day, not even with his family. Many heroes are like that. Humility prevails.
Howard is just one unheralded hero living under the radar in our community. There are many, many more. We just have to take the time to look and ask the right questions.
