Heroes Among Us
“A nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure.”
That quote welcomes guests at the Charles H. Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center downtown. I had the pleasure of visiting the attraction – which opened just weeks before the pandemic hit Chattanooga – a few weeks ago, for our first story below.
Last week, the center’s namesake, native Chattanoogan Charles Coolidge, passed away at the age of 99. He was one of the two World War II Medal of Honor recipients still alive.
But as the center teaches, there are many ways to be a hero:
“The Medal of Honor recipients are people who, one time in their lives, faced circumstances when they decided that destiny, as they understood to be, was unacceptable. They found within themselves the potential to literally change fate. The same potential resides in every American and it is worthy of respect and celebration without the need of a medal or a uniform.”
I can’t think of a more fitting tribute than to look for those opportunities as you go about your day.
– Jennifer Bardoner, editor
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