Author: Americans have forgotten real heroes

Americans have forgotten what makes a real hero, Joe Galloway, author and former war correspondent told Coca-Cola Co. employees Tuesday at a Veterans Day tribute.

Celebrities and athletes seem to be most valued by today’s society, Galloway said. Heroism is about selfless service, putting others above yourself, he said.

Soldiers, police officers, firefighters and school teachers are heroes, Galloway said. “There are a lot of heroes in this country, but they’re not throwing baseballs or footballs for $20 million a year,” he said.

Galloway was the keynote speaker at the Coca-Cola event, attended by about 500 people at the company’s headquarters in Atlanta. Galloway and retired Lt. Gen. Harold Moore co-wrote “We were Soldiers Once…And Young” and the recently published “We are Soldiers Still,” both about the Vietnam War.

Galloway spent 22 years as a war correspondent covering conflicts from Vietnam to Iraq. He developed a deep respect and love for the young Americans that serve in war, he said.

“That you send young men, young women now, off to war started by old men, there’s something wrong with that,” Galloway told the audience. “We ought to send the old men first. They started the damn thing. Let them go fight.”

In an interview after his remarks, Galloway said he hoped President-elect Barack Obama surrounded himself with wise advisers. The United States used to be “slow to draw the sword,” he said.

“Whatever we were doing these last eight years has been mostly wrong,” Galloway said. “I sincerely hope that with a change of administration we’re going to recover our place in the world.”