Heroes Of War

From "This will be a short war," to "The war has just begun," the whole world is bracing itself for what has yet to come. I fear nothing, perhaps because I cannot fully comprehend its serious implications. To date, there are over a dozen casualties, on the side of the coalition forces alone, and there will be more. Embattled Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, has threatened to take the war wherever there is air, land and water. Although I am aware of war’s consequences, not having lived through a real war makes the idea seem so remote.

Sadly, the idea of world destruction is more than an imminent danger. Pope John Paul II, in an urgent plea for calm and peace recalls the devastation of World War II. "Anybody who has suffered and survived a world war realizes that nothing good can come out of it," is the Pope’s message. Interestingly, the world’s leaders throughout time have felt the need to go into battle every so many decades – in the name of religion, territory and now oil.

But if war brings out the worst in people, it can also bring out the best. It may sound over optimistic, even naive, but is it not in darkness that stars shine brightest? I speak of two characters in history who may have lived in different eras and battled different wars, but brought out everything that is good and true in humanity–William Wallace and Oscar Schindler, a.k.a. Mel Gibson and Liam Neeson, respectively.

Surely dramatized and glamorized by Hollywood, their stories nonetheless, as told in the epic films, Brave Heart and Schindler’s List, two of my all-time favorite movies, were not merely tall tales.

Brave Heart was set in 12th century AD when the rulers of England reigned with terror over neighboring Scotland. As a young boy, William Wallace lost his father in battle while defending family honor against the abusive English. In a dream, William heard his father say, "Your heart is free, have the courage to follow it." Despite being a commoner, William grew into a man nobler than the noblemen. It was when he lost his bride in the hands of English soldiers that William became determined to lead his people to freedom. As a fellow Scotsman pointed out, Wallace fought with passion. Hence, despite the lack of weaponry and an inferior battalion versus the stronger English army, he inspired his men to fight with undying valor. "Men don’t follow titles, they follow courage." Perhaps something to ponder by today’s world leaders.

In the end, Wallace was captured and as commonly done in those days, made to beg for mercy from the king in a public execution. With his last breath, William Wallace cried, "Freedom!" He may not have seen his people free from English bondage, but it was both his life and death that gave them their liberty.

Oscar Schindler was responsible for saving generations of Jews, six million of whom were man-slaughtered during Adolph Hitler’s Nazi Regime in World War II. Ironically, Schindler belonged to an elite circle of influential German Nazis. In the beginning, his initial objective in employing Jews in his armories was to save on labor costs, therefore increasing his profits. He befriended his Jewish plant manager, "Stein," who brought out a part of him that he would have wanted to ignore, but couldn’t – his soul. There was a scene where an elderly Jewish man with one arm entered Schindler’s office to thank him profusely for hiring him in the factory, making him a "Schindler Jew," therefore saving him from being slaughtered in the concentration camps. At first, Schindler struggled not to feel compassion. "Business is business and since they were in the middle of a war, it’s natural for people to die," were his thoughts. This and many other incidents of this nature bothered him, as it touched the core of his soul.

What is the cost of a life? To Oscar Schindler, the price of saving another life was the risk of losing his own. He was a German Nazi saving Jewish lives. With the assistance of Stein, he literally bought lives of Jews by bribing Nazi soldiers and sustained his non-productive arms factory by selling off everything he amassed during his profit-making days. At the end of the war, he fled a pauper, but saved 1,100 Jews who belonged in his list.

"A man who saves one life, saves the world entirely." Generations of Jews are alive today because of Oscar Schindler.

William Wallace and Oscar Schindler were heroes of war. It took a war to bring out what is noble and true in them and mirrored what is good in humanity. Nobody wants war, but everybody loves a hero.

It has yet to be seen if a real hero will come forth in this war. By the looks of it, no hero will emerge from amongst the major players – certainly not US President George W. Bush or Saddam Hussein, both of whom have allowed their hubris to dictate on the fate of the word. Perhaps we will find heroes among the countless of men and women who will face this battle with no other agenda, but the triumph of the human spirit.