“A hero is not braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
We are in need of Emerson’s five-minute heroes.
Lots of them!
People willing to hold their feet to the fire for five extra minutes to:
- guard
- protect
- defend
the soul of a nation being sorely tested.
Thomas Paine observed during the early days of the American Revolution:
“To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead.”
“Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.”
“Character is much easier kept than recovered.”
And most poignantly:
Indeed!
Today we need to find these heroes.
- They’re out there
- You know them
- They’re your friends and neighbors
- They are you
Here’s the story of one such hero.
Captain Bruce Michel (1937-2022)
I first learned of Captain Michel’s heroism from his young grandson who, on he eve of his passing, recorded his grandpa’s remarkable story for posterity.
…………..
Bruce joined the Navy shortly after graduation from college in 1964. He served as a fighter pilot in Vietnam and had volunteered for multiple tours of duty.
Captain Michel was no stranger to facing down fear as he had flown scores of bombing sorties in North Vietnam.
Fighter pilots had inordinately high casualty rates.
But it was while serving on the USS Locator, stationed in the Pacific, that he had his rendezvous with five minutes of heroism.
They were sailing in very rough seas when a deep swell caught the ship and a shipmate was washed overboard.
Captain Michel immediately recognized the gravity of the situation and went into the water after the sailor.
At substantial risk to his own life he swam to the drowning sailor, harnessed him to a life preserver and hauled him back to the ship.
Captain Michel’s Commendation noted that throughout the rescue his “comportment was in keeping with the highest traditions of Naval service.”
Five minutes of heroism saved a life.
Captain Michel did what most of would us would like to think we’d do — act in a time of a grave crisis.
But acting in such a moment is easier said than done.
We only need to survey the current American political landscape to understand how paralyzed some get when faced with a frightening event.
How many would-be heroes are compromised by fear?
Captain Michel’s action provides us with two important lessons.
- First, heroes play a role in the lives of each of us. Count the times someone spent five minutes going in after you when life had washed you overboard.
- We ALL have it in us to act heroically if we learn to hold our fear in check.
We may not have been born fearless but we can practice, fearing less.
Jane Fonda recently spoke at the 2025 Screen Actors Guild Awards Ceremony where she was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
In her acceptance speech she posed a question to us all:
“Have any of you ever watched a documentary of one of the great social movements, like apartheid or our civil rights movement or Stonewall, and asked yourself: Would you have been brave enough to walk the bridge? Would you have been able to take the hoses, the batons and the dogs?
“We don’t have to wonder anymore because we are in our documentary moment. This is it.
“And it’s not a rehearsal.”
Who of us actually feels heroic?
I sure don’t!
But something very grave has happened; our ship of state is badly listing.
Now is the time for all good people to come to the aid of their country. As Captain Michel did, we need people to go into turbulent waters to save our nation. There are many ways to do this — find your way.
As Ben Franklin reminds us:
“We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”
Just a thought…
Pat