Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff. 

By Britt Nelson

President Donald Trump wrapped up his 9-day trip to cheering sailors at Sigonella U.S. Naval Air Station in Sicily, Italy, on Saturday — his first trip overseas as president. He started this trip in Saudi Arabia – where he belted out his overall theme of “combating terrorism” and promoting economic growth. Then without warning came two more horrific terrorist attacks – one in England and the other in Egypt.

The attack in England — at a pop music concert in Manchester killed 22 people — mostly mothers and children — has been on the news almost non-stop since Monday. But the other – the murder of 29 Coptic Christians including 10 children – shot dead on a bus while traveling to Cairo — has barely been mentioned on main-stream news. The Islamic State or ISIS has claimed responsibility for both, according to news reports.

“They’ve all endured one terrorist attack after another … drive them out of this Earth,” President Trump said to the group of Sigonella sailors on the Memorial Day Weekend in the USA. “All children of all faiths deserve a future of peace and hope.”

President Trump also spoke of individual U.S. Naval heroes — young and old — that died in the name of freedom. “We honor their memory and sacrifice … you are the warriors of freedom … that keep the fires of freedom burning … .” These beautiful words ended a successful mid-East/European trip abroad, and then head back to Washington to face spineless lawmakers endlessly arguing over President Trump’s ‘Agenda for America’ with main-stream media throwing out wild accusations about the president’s advisors and their dark ties to Russia.

But where are the heroes, not those in the military but our political heroes? Those people we all look up to for guidance in an uncertain world. Those people who define sacred trust by example. Those people who make us laugh, think and inspire us to take action on our own. Those people who showed everyone else the way home. Where did they all go?

Across the national political landscape there are no new heroes like Presidents Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy or Reagan, or South African President Nelson Mandela, or political humorist Mark Twain and World War II’s Gen. George Patton. Past heroes live on in their legacy, but in today’s world there are few replacement heroes coming up the ranks. Of course, a hero is in the eye of the beholder. For some Hillary Clinton is a hero while for others President Trump is a hero. Still others think Jane Fonda is a hero and Bruce Springsteen, too.

Most real heroes have nothing to do with politics but everything to do with heroism — sometimes including politicians — like unsung-hero former Vice President Gerald Ford – who took over the presidency after President Nixon resigned in 1974 due to ‘Watergate’ related crimes.

Being a hero to some is one thing, but heroism is a whole different ballgame — that lone police officer who saves a pregnant woman from a burning car, that firefighter who went head-first into the flames to save a child, that soldier who dove on a hand grenade to save others and those Coptic Christians executed this week in Egypt by Islamic extremists.

Many a hero was made in split seconds — take Lenny Skutnik for example. On Jan. 13, 1982, Skutnik, a regular 29-year-old guy, was standing on the banks of the Potomac River in Washington — along with hundreds of others and dozens of emergency personnel – all reacting to the horrific aftermath of the crash of Air Florida Flight 90 into the frozen Potomac River which killed 74, only five survived. An injured female passenger, nearly blind by jet fuel, emerged from the wreckage and managed to grab a rescue rope-ring from a hovering helicopter, but she could not hang on and fell. At that instant — broadcast live to the nation — Skutnik threw off his coat, took off his boots and jumped into the icy water. He swam about 30-feet through cracked, jagged ice and just as the woman was going under he kept her up and pulled her to shore, according to the incident account published in Wikipedia.

Soon after, President Reagan recognized Skutnik during the annual State of the Union Address, a joint-session of Congress in which all 535 members attend along with the U.S. Supreme Court justices.

“Just two weeks ago, in the midst of a terrible tragedy on the Potomac, we saw again the spirit of American heroism at its finest: the heroism of dedicated rescue workers saving crash victims from icy waters,” said President Reagan. “And, we saw the heroism of one of our young government employees, Lenny Skutnik, who, when he saw a woman lose her grip on the helicopter line, dived into the water and dragged her to safety.”

Skutnik, standing alongside First Lady Nancy Reagan, received a sustained standing ovation with loud and joyous applause. It’s a moment in time remembered by everyone who saw Skutnik risk his own life to save someone he did not know – all caught on live national TV. He was officially congratulated by a grateful nation. He is one of those countless heroes among us who never for a minute thought of himself as a hero. At that moment, Skutnik did what he had to do as a man. He acted before the trained rescuers did. To this day he remains a shining light — an inspiration to all. Since that time, Skutnik has led a life far from the spotlight.

So where are today’s political heroes? It’s next to impossible to find someone with courage in Washington these days. On the outside looking in Congressional leadership has gone astray — they seem to have lost their way. The partisan divisiveness is killing off any progress on President Trump’s Agenda for America and that’s what they want. All these lawmakers look like little children who can’t settle their playground disputes without calling for another investigation to learn the “facts.”

The facts are clear that President Trump is showing heroism in having to fight the Democrats, a biased main-stream-news media and even other Republicans – none of whom are showing anything resembling heroism except for the president. It took a lot guts to stand before the leaders of 50-plus Muslim-majority countries in Riyahd — the heart of Islam — and slam them all for not doing enough to wipe out radical Islamic terrorism within their borders.

President Trump isn’t backing down in Washington or overseas. He won’t quit no matter how rough the political hatred against him gets. When things get tough, the tough get going. In the comings months, it would be jaw-dropping heroic to see a criminal, multi-count indictment from the U.S. Department of Justice filed against former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton now that her protector – former FBI Director James Comey – is gone. Such an indictment would change everything in the nation’s capital. If no one is above the law then prove it with conviction and courage.

About the Author

Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.

Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.