“There are no great men, only great challenges that ordinary men are forced by circumstances to meet.”
William F. Halsey, Fleet Admiral, USN.
 
I don’t know when or why Admiral Halsey made that statement, but I would like the reader to think about it tomorrow as you go through your normal day. Of course these days, we would replace the word “men” with “men and women.” Well that’s OK. There were many great challenges in our history which ordinary people, men and women both, were forced to meet.
    Just a few days ago, lots of ordinary people were called upon to do great things. As the bullets were flying in the theater in Aurora, at least five men leaped to place their own bodies between the person they cared about and the shooter.
    Four of them died in the process. I am sure that lots of men and women we might never hear of jumped upon someone they loved to shield them from harm.
    So, look around you during your day. Look at the ordinary men and women you see, speak with, work with, etc. And, realize that these are truly great people. More than likely each and every one of them, if called upon to meet a great challenge, would do so.
    The trouble is that most of the great challenges we each face on a daily basis don’t make the evening news. Often no one will ever know but the person who faces the challenge and responds honorably.
    There is another quote, whose origins I have not been able to discover:
    “The measure of a man is what he does when he knows that no one will ever know what he did.” We can add women to that, as well.
    And, there goes the great person. Not an admiral or a general. Not a movie star or a rock star or a sports star — this is not a person who will be presented with a citation or a medal. This is the ordinary person who will be sitting next to you on the bus or working near you at the office.
    But, this does not mean that the ordinary man you see every day is not likely to meet the challenges of the most extraordinary circumstances. He might never have a reason to, but he would no doubt — without a moment’s hesitation — jump into traffic to grab a child from in front of a car. Put his own life at risk to save his fellow man from needless harm.
    These great men (and women) almost daily meet challenges that none of us even take notice of. They are polite to people who are rude. They are honest where others are dishonest. They smile at others who need a smile and laugh at their jokes that might not really be all that funny. They go, every day, to a job they hate to keep food on the table and a roof over their family’s heads. They sit up at night with a sick child, and help the kids with their homework when they would rather be watching something on TV.
    These great men and women are at almost every meeting of the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and PTA.
    The child and the teenager can be great, as well. They are always facing challenges which we as adults never seem to think are all that great. You might see a child help another child who fell in a playground get up. And, you could see a teenager give another teen a hand with homework.
    There is the challenge of befriending the unpopular kid as well as the challenge of not being a friend to the popular kid who does not deserve his friendship.
    Sometimes great people do make the news. A few months ago, a group of strangers lifted a car off of a fellow, and once they did that, they all walked away. No one stayed to be recognized.
    During the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, a black minister straddled a white man to keep him safe. A black girl drove the truck of the injured white truck driver to get him away from the people beating him. And, she had never driven a truck before in her life.
    During a town hall, a strange man began to approach President Clinton. The woman reporter threw her body between the man and the president knowing that if the man meant to attack the president, she could wind up being the target.
    Firefighters trying to rescue a woman who was trapped in a car that was hanging over the edge of a bridge were told by her to get away from her car least they be harmed.
    These are great people who will never be buried in Arlington National Cemetery. But, whereever their resting place may be, today and every day, look around — there is a great man or woman right next to you.

Al Jacobson is a Commerce City homeowner.
He writes children’s stories.