Heroes: Navy SEALs and Beowulf

After reading Mark Owen's memoir of his experiences as an elite operator on SEAL team six and the Beowulf Epic, one thing stood out to me. Heroes come in all forms and have stayed with us in one form or another throughout history. On May 2, 2011 Navy SEALs flew into Abbotabad, Pakistan where they raided terrorist mastermind Osama Bin Laden's lair. The operators assaulted the compound and used explosive charges to blow open the doors. They split into teams and gained entry into each building in the compound. After a brief gunfight, the SEALs overwhelmed the terrorists and killed two high level Al Qaeda operatives, Bin Laden's son, and Bin Laden himself. The men then thoroughly searched the house and gathered an extensive amount of intelligence about the terrorist group and exited. The whole operation took about 30 minutes. In the epic, Beowulf enters the mead hall to slay Grendel, then enters Grendel's mother's lair to kill her, then climbs the mountain in his kingdom to slay the dragon. Beowulf kills three monsters that are all killing innocent people. He does so with great bravery and valor. Despite differences in technology and tactics, the team of SEALs that killed Bin Laden and the great warrior that was Beowulf are very similar.

Both Navy SEALs and Beowulf share one common aspect. They take the fight to the enemy. Beowulf crossed the oceans and entered the mead hall. The SEALs rode helicopters across a hostile country's border into a terrorist compound. Beowulf dove into the sea down to Grendel's mother's lair to fight. The SEALs slid down ropes into a dark, unknown area. Beowulf climbed the mountain the defeat the dragon. The SEALs climbed a single staircase up to the third floor of Bin Laden's compound where armed radical Islamic terrorists were waiting. Beowulf didn't know what Grendel's tactics were, or what weapons his mother had in her lair. The operatives in Pakistan didn't know if there was going to be booby traps, suicide bombers, human shields, or other terrorist tools in play. Both Beowulf and the SEALs accomplished their missions by defeating the masterminds of the enemy. This brought prosperity to their homelands and made the world a safer place.

However, both warriors did so at great personal sacrifice. Navy SEAL Robert O'Neil, who actually fired the shots that killed Bin Laden, speaks around the country about his experiences. He says the hardest part of the job is saying goodbye to his daughter suddenly, and not knowing if it is the last time he will see her again. Beowulf didn't know if he would say any of his kinsmen again when he sailed to support Hrothgar against Grendel. The SEALs didn't know if they would see their wives and girlfriends, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters again when they deployed to go after Bin Laden. This is the life of warriors: leaving safety and security to take the fight to the enemy, to accomplish the mission. Because every monster, every terrorist eliminated makes the world a little bit safer. This is what sets true heroes apart. The fact that they leave safety to go into the unknown. For example, other examples of heroes are the firefighters than continued to climb the world trade center even as it was crumbling down around them. Another example is the person who walks away from their friends to sit with a lonely person. Another example is the cancer patient who enters the chemo treatment room every day not knowing what will happen or how their body will react. These people are all heroes. The world is filled with these heroes, and they serve as role models and examples for all others.

Whether fighting with swords and axes or night vision and advanced assault rifles, whether riding viking ships or stealth helicopters, whether climbing a dark mountain with a fire breathing dragon or climbing a dark staircase with an armed insurgent around the next turn, Beowulf and Navy SEALs show extreme bravery and selflessness in their actions. It is these actions that keep us safe, this bravery and this selflessness, that lets the free world be free. George Orwell says it best, "People sleep peaceably in their beds because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf". So as you are reading this blog post, some young man somewhere is climbing that mountain to slay the dragon in the foreign land to defend his kingdom. Some rough man is peering down the sights of his rifle on that staircase ready to do violence to keep us all safe. Some brave man, some selfless man,ventures into the unknown to slay the dragons and monsters to make the world a better, safer place.

Thank you for reading.
Billy Stoddard