Heart and Heroism

Saving another man’s life in the face of death requires moral character (Gabbard 131). When soldiers give their lives for the sake of another, they teach a silent lesson of morality and virtue. What is that morality? What are those virtues? Their actions say that the war is about “building character and not about brutality and stupidity” (Gabbard 132). Rather than putting the emphasis on death and dying, the hero puts the emphasis on virtue and life. Virtue and life, whether they are national or private and personal, are what being a hero is all about. Ultimately a hero has to make his/her own decisions. Saving Private Ryan is just about those issues of morality and virtue lived out moment by moment on the battlefield.