Perhaps you have read about the 20 year old congressional intern named Daniel Hernandez. He had been hired as an intern not five days before the horrible shooting. He was there at the Safeway on Saturday working the admission gates. When the shooting started, he ran towards (!) the gunfire, checked on two victims who were already dead, and then came upon the Congresswoman, shot in the head but amazingly still alive. He cradled her in his lap, keeping her slightly elevated, and then applied pressure to both entry and exit wounds. Multiple reports state that Mr. Hernandez’s quick reaction in applying pressure to the wound, preventing Ms. Giffords from bleeding out at the scene.
When we Americans think of ourselves, we like to think that we are a strong and tough yet compassionate and humane. And when we think of what makes a hero, does Mr. Hernandez’s actions not fit the classic definition? I don’t think anyone can doubt that Mr. Hernandez is a real American hero. And yet, to some Americans, before Saturday, Mr. Hernandez was not a real American hero. He was, and perhaps still is (to them), a real American villian, for the sole reasons that he is Hispanic and openly gay.
I hope President Obama invites Mr. Hernandez to the State of the Union Address in a few weeks so that he can be showcased to all of America as a true role model.