To a New Yorker Like you, a Hero is Some Type of Weird Sandwich

Why did Gotham need Batman? Was it a city in need of a hero or was the hero in need of the city? Our problem is that today there are thousands of loud boisterous heroes in search of a Gotham. Too many people after the fact are quick to state what they would have done, or should have done. They themselves are mum, quiet and silent on what they actually did when Gotham needed them.

I think a lot of this has to do with background. No one has the background anymore to take matters in their own hand. Think about this:

1961, The University of Texas in Austin: Charles Whitman, a troubled man with more red flags than a Spanish Bullfighter’s retirement home, climbed a tower and with an assortment of weapons and some Spam and killed 14 people and wounded 32 others. Three Austin Police officers and a civilian volunteer, Allen Crumb, climbed the tower and ended his rampage. Mr. Crumb was a 40 year old retired Air Force tail gunner who had never fired a shot in combat. He had served his time hanging out in the cramped cold tail end of B-17 and later B-50 bombers in WWII and the Cold War. He never again had to touch a gun if he didn’t want to. He ran to the sound of the gunshots and with a borrowed rifle led the officers to the observatory deck, pausing along the way to give first aid to victims of Whitman’s fire. Crum engaged Whitman and drew his fire while two of the APD officers engaged him with a 38 and a 12 gauge, ending the threat.

Crum, for lack of a better word is and was a hero- Someone who didn’t have to even be there but was and made a difference. He stepped from the shadows and made a stand. He made a difference.

October 1997, Pearl Mississippi: Luke Woodham, another troubled man, this one only 16, decided to bring a 30.30 to school because he had some shit on his mind. Luke quickly shot ten students and teachers, of whom three tragically lost their lives. The school’s Assistant Principal, Joel Myrick, a sixteen year National Guardsman, retrieved his Colt 1911 from the glove box and confronted Woodham, stopping his killing spree while he still had two pockets full of shells left.
This was two years before Columbine where two other kids with shit on their minds shot 39 in a rampage that lasted much longer than the Pearl Shooting.

July 2008, Brooklyn New York: a woman lay dying on the floor. This is not terribly tragic until you find out the floor she was lying in was the psych ward at Kings County Hospital. Her name was Esmin Green and she reportedly laid there for almost two hours. No less than two hospital security guards saw Ms Green on the floor and did not help her. She died. She did not have an Allen Crum.

Fast forward to Richmond California, 2009: a 15 year old girl was gang raped by 20 or more youths and no one stopped them, or even went so far as to dial 911 on their phone. She endured 2.5 hours of misery. This happened outside of a high school homecoming dance. News stories mention that as many as 50 people knew this was occurring during that time period. She did not have an Assistant Principal like Joel Myrick evidently.

Crum and Myrick were both military men. Crum arguably was a member of the ‘greatest generation’ and a more often than not these men saw service in uniform. Crum however volunteered for flight crew operations in metal tubes filled with bombs and aviation fuel. Myrick was a volunteer guardsman. They both were volunteers again on their respective days. They could have kept their head down and survived and no one anywhere would have said a thing to them throughout the rest of their lives.

They chose to train, to take up a weapon, to not hide.

We are losing our civilian heroes.

This Last Stand on Zombie Beach is going to be very lonely.