Tai Ho firefighters: Our heroes are human, nothing more, nothing less

It is difficult to find an adequate definition for the phrase "human being." Nothing I found comes close, taking into account the complexities of our species.

People don't live on the margins, none of us are all good or all bad. Our lives take place on a broad page with many choices. Good, bad, decisions we make that we would like to take back. We are all capable of great kindnesses and cruelties. Few of us would turn down the opportunity to hit the "do over" button of life and get a chance to change one aspect or another of our lives.

I like to think we all strive to do the right thing but sometimes we get sidetracked, quite often doing the right thing is also the most difficult and now and again as human beings we fall short. Sometimes in our effort to live the life we should we acquire demons and on occasion those demons get the upper hand.

If the press reports are true, Firefighters Payne and Cahill brought this on themselves. The press didn't make up this story. It is the job of the press to report it and they did. I don't think it matters who leaked the report, it doesn't change the truth. If the report did not come out, nothing changes, the facts would be the same. we just wouldn't know about it. The real victim in this case will be the next fallen firefighter.

If Cahill and Payne were still alive then they could face the consequences of their actions. While we are worried about the consequences to their families now, they should have been worried about these consequences before. Unfortunately the families will be the recipients of the negative comments and actions. That is unfortunate.

To the best of my knowledge Cahill and Payne did not refer to themselves as heroes. We did. I don't think simply because you are a firefighter or a police officer you are a hero. Heroes should be defined by their actions. If you think that going into a burning building to look for victims and to put a fire out is heroic than your opinion of these two men shouldn't change. The only thing this report tells you is that above all, your heroes were human beings.