David Bullard comforted a frightened dog last Tuesday. He is a fireman with the Elizabethtown Volunteer Fire Department.

The day before, Michael Shaw, better known as Bull, tried his best to save a burning man's life. Shaw is a patrolman with the Elizabethtown Police Department.

And while these little dramas, and others play out here at home, Robert Heath is trying to reestablish medical services to the people of Tuz, Iraq. Heath is a soldier and a U.S. Army Physician Assistant with the first Airborne Battalion of the 508th Infantry.

These are just some of the more notable examples of how Bladen County produces heroes.

It's a word bandied about far too often nowadays; in the days after Sept. 11, and the days of terror and fear and war since then, we had good reason to use the word, and often.

But the word hero has lost some of its glimmer since those days, and people have stopped noticing the true heroes among us.

Thankfully, the folks who perform heroic acts aren't in it for the glory. They do these things because they feel a need, a drive, or a desire to help people.

Often, like Patrolman Shaw, Firefighter Bullard, and Captain Heath, they are folks whose line of work sometimes involves actual, true, unarguable heroism.

Whether their acts are small, like Bullard with the Dachshund, or dramatic, like Bull Shaw trying desperately to save a stranger's life, or long-lasting, like Robert Heath's desire to bring even the most basic medical equipment to the people of Tuz, the real heroes among us still perform good deeds, and most times never get noticed.

Let's take the time in this New Year to make the word 'hero' mean something again.

We are lucky enough that our county produces enough true heroes that we should easily be able to remember the true meaning of that very American word.

Thanks, Bull, David, and Robert, and all the others of you out there who so greatly, and quietly, serve us.

You really are heroes.



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