On heroes and heroism

We loosely throw around the word "hero." Genuine heroes, however, are few and far between.

I have a friend who is a real hero, genuine in every sense of the word.

This man has saved one of our telephone companies an estimated $5-million or more by breaking up a credit card fraud that resulted in several arrests.

He broke up an auto theft ring that resulted in huge savings for one of our major car insurers.

He worked with the FBI and played a central role in exposing a prison escape plot.

He heard a prisoner boasting about how he killed a woman, could not live with his conscience, and brought the criminal to justice. A Michigan prosecutor and a municipal police detective were elated with his testimony and they obtained a conviction that resulted in a life sentence.

He was instrumental in breaking up criminal activity at the staff level in one of our prisons.

The list goes on, if you can believe it. If successful in winning just one of these cases, I would say the man was worthy of being called a hero. But this guy has done a bunch of them.

Now here's the kicker.

Is the man holding some honored position, where he can be paid tribute by private business and government alike?

Nope.

You wanna know where he is? In prison. That's right. In prison. Our system, made up of all these wonderful people who benefited from his testimony, is sitting on its hands, taking its sweet time about repaying this hero who has been promised a chance at freedom.

Meanwhile, this man is constantly afraid, always watching behind his back because so many people want to get even with him.

If he's to be called a hero, what would you call all of those people who don't seem to get around to paving the way for his freedom?

I'm praying that this hero someday will get some of his reward here on earth.

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