Dear Editor,
I have nothing against Kobe Bryant; I like Kobe. But why are so many people around the country and world worshipping and paying tributes to Kobe?
Was Kobe a hero? Kobe was one of the greatest basketball players. But he wasn’t a hero. Millions of people are calling him a hero. Being a great basketball player doesn’t make him a hero.
It bothers me when someone is a great athlete, rich and famous is made a hero. How much Kobe suffered and sacrificed to become a great athlete?
Editor, to me a hero is someone who suffered and sacrificed a lot. How much does a person have to suffer and sacrifice to become a great athlete?
The world’s view of a hero is backward. Just because someone is rich and famous, we make them heroes.
Editor, Kobe was a great athlete, but he wasn’t a hero. In my opinion, a hero is someone who sacrificed his or her life for the country.
I have met and fought alongside many of these heroes in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the world doesn’t know them. The world doesn’t honour them. The world only knows and honours the Kobes of the world. The world doesn’t care about these unnamed heroes. It only cares about the rich and famous athletes.
Editor, one of these unnamed heroes was a soldier who died in Iraq. I’ll never forget him even though he died over a decade ago.
Today, I still have him in my thoughts.
I still remember how I felt when I first saw his lifeless body on the battlefield. I felt numb, confused. I asked myself why he had to die. He was very, very young, 19. He was a skinny white gentleman. But he had the courage of Winston Churchill.
I don’t know why his death touched me so much when I saw countless warriors die. Maybe it was because he was the youngest soldier I saw die. Or maybe it was because I couldn’t understand how a single bullet penetrated his steel helmet and instantly killed him. How can a single gunshot take the life of this kid?
Editor, while Kobe received countless tributes from around the world, this warrior didn’t receive any. The world doesn’t even know he died, and the world doesn’t know him. The world doesn’t even care he died. To them, he was not a hero. But to me, he was a true hero. To give your young life for your country is truly courageous and truly makes you a hero.
Editor, put simply, the world must pay the same attention and tributes to the warriors and soldiers who have suffered physical, mental, psychological, emotional trauma and who has paid the ultimate sacrifice like it does for the Kobes of the world.
Yours faithfully,
Anthony Pantlitz
