Heroes do exist. But sometimes we need to be reminded of that. I have been utterly captivated and inspired by the heroism of the trapped Chilean miners, their rescuers, and the people of Chile. I was going to write about their diet and fitness program down in the mines, and I will, but today I just want to celebrate Chile. Others can say it better than I can:
Chile! Viva Chile! If I had your flag, I would wave it today from the roof of my building, and watch my New York neighbors smile, nod and wave as they walked by. What a thing Chile has done. They say on TV, "Chile needed this." But the world needed it. And the world knew it: That's why they watched, a billion of them, as the men came out of the mine.
Why did the world need it? Because the saving of those men gave us something we don't see enough, a brilliant example of human excellence—of cohesion, of united and committed action, of planning and execution, of caring. They used the human brain and spirit to save life. All we get all day every day is scandal. But this inspired.
Viva Chile. They left no man behind. That is what our U.S. Army Rangers say, and our Marines: We leave no man behind. It has a meaning, this military motto, this way of operating. It means you are not alone, you are part of something. Your brothers are with you, here they come.
Actions speak louder than words:
But Chile this week moved the world not by talking but by doing, not by mouthing sympathy for the miners, but by saving them. The whole country—the engineers and technicians, the president, the government, the rescue workers, other miners, medics—set itself to doing something hard, specific, physical, demanding of commitment, precision and expertise. And they did it.
What an achievement.
The modern world can fill our lives with such small things. When it is easy to drift into a purposeless existence. When survival is taken for granted. But those miners did not take their survival for granted, and their countrymen did not leave them behind. Heroes do exist.
VIVA CHILE!
