THE SHORT SHELF LIFE OF HEROES

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June 14, 2017

ROY LARNER: “I NEED TO TAKE THE PISS OUT OF THESE BASTARDS.” – Facebook photo

My favorite story of the last week is the tale of Roy Larner, an unlikely 47-year-old soccer fan who has been dubbed the “Lion of London Bridge” for his fighting off a band of knife-wielding terrorists while others fled in terror.

His story is a shining light, made only brighter by the rather tepid political responses of the London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Prime Minister Theresa May to recent terror attacks in the city. To be fair, it is a public official’s job to try to restore calm after such horrendous events, but people are growing weary of repeatedly being told to “calm down.”

Then along comes Roy Larner, a working class hero, who finally says enough is enough.

Roy had just polished off “four or five pints” at the Black and Blue pub near the London Bridge, when three terrorist thugs – who had just run down pedestrians on the bridge and hacked them to death with machete-like knives – broke through the door.

People started running, but not Roy, who was interviewed in The Sun newspaper:

“They had these long knives and started shouting about Allah. Then it was, ‘Islam, Islam, Islam,'” Larner, a fan of the Millwall Football Club later told reporters. “Like an idiot, I shouted back at them. I thought, ‘I need to take the piss out of these bastards.’

“I took a few steps toward them and said, ‘Fuck you, I’m Millwall’. So they started attacking me. I stood in front of them trying to fight them off. Everyone else ran to the back. I was on my own against all three of them, that’s why I got hurt so much. It was just me, trying to grab them with my bare hands and hold on. I was swinging. I got stabbed and sliced eight times. They got me in my head, chest and both hands. There was blood everywhere.

“They were saying, ‘Islam, Islam!’ I said again, ‘Fuck you, I’m Millwall!’

The terrorists ended up stabbing and slicing Roy eight times in the chest, arms and neck before fleeing outside. Despite bleeding heavily from his wounds, he followed them outside in time to see them gunned down by the police.

We need people like Roy Larner to remind us there is an alternative to running away. We live in a world in which we are repeatedly told to let the police or the authorities handle whatever situation takes place. The police in this case did a bang-up job of getting to the scene quickly and killing the evil jerks who thought it was a grand idea to run down and kill people they didn’t even know.

But it still takes time for the police to respond, and until they get there people need to protect themselves and others. It’s either fight or flee. For guys like Roy Larner, it’s simple. You fight.

We need more guys like Roy Larner, and we all need to be more like Roy Larner ourselves. The story of this plucky hero who would rather fight than run has drawn much praise and admiration from the public.

Unfortunately, I would advise Roy Larner to enjoy it while he can. The press loves stories about individual heroes defying the odds. The second kind of stories the press loves – after the incident is over – is tearing down the same heroes they made famous.

Roy Larner is a brave and colorful character, who says exactly what’s on his mind. Sooner or later that’s going to get him in trouble.

“Show me a hero, and I’ll show you a bum,” Greg “Pappy” Boyington famously said. Boyington was a World War II Marine fighter pilot who lived life as large and bold as he flew planes in combat. He was a seat-of-his-pants kind of guy, much as I suspect Roy Larner is.

The kind of guy who says exactly what’s on his mind and doesn’t mince words. In other words, honest, outspoken, and not politically correct.

Maybe it’s time for the cover-your-ass politicians and leaders to listen and learn.

– George Lee Cunningham

Do you have a dissenting opinion or any opinion at all on the subject? Contact me at george@georgeleecunningham.com and let me know. Meanwhile, you can always subscribe and get an email reminder of blog postings. Your name will not be shared and you may cancel at any time.

News

April 17, 2024

Minor Character

Sometimes I feel like a minor character in one of those really long James Michener historic novels. I’m one of the guys they check in on a couple of times during the course of the book and one more time when he finally kicks the bucket. In truth, that suits me just fine. I don’t want to be one of the major players – those guys who lie, cheat, sleep around, make a lot of money, kill a lot of people, and then then suffer a tragic death on Christmas Eve. I just want to be me – plugging along, having some fun, loving the same woman for years, and then quietly passing away.

March 25, 2024

Cereal Killer

I have almost given up on cereal. As a younger man, I loved a sugary treat. As an old man, who has to watch his diet, I find myself checking labels on everything. Sugar is the enemy. For instance, Cap’n Crunch – a former favorite of my wife – contains: Corn Flour, Sugar, Oat Flour, Brown Sugar, Palm and/or Coconut Oil, Salt, Reduced Iron, Yellow 5, Niacinamide, Yellow 6, BHT, Thiamin, Mononitrate, Pridoxined Hydrochloride, Rioflavin, and Folic Acid. My choice: plain old Shredded Wheat. Ingredients: wheat and BHT (a harmless preservative). Not a taste treat, but at least I’ll live to tell about it

Highway Memorials

Driving across country nowadays, we notice a growing number of roadside displays – flowers, crosses, and ribbons – marking the sites where people apparently died in traffic accidents. I do understand mourning the passing of somebody you love, but I’m not sure I see the point of putting a display at the place along the road where they died. Even sadder is the fact that flowers wilt and highway trash piles up around the displays, making them just another sad reminder of life cut short.

December 5, 2023

Love Motives

I often tell my wife I love and adore her, mainly because I do and also because women like to hear the man in their life actually say the words. But during one conversation I had to confess that some times when I say it – especially when she is irked and giving me the deadly silent treatment – I am also reminding myself of that fact so I don’t start yelling and slamming doors. Is that so wrong?

Being Mortal

I am officially an old man. Sometimes I forget, then I look in the mirror and there it is. The truth is that life has its limits, and that is how it should be. There are new generations coming up, ready to step up and take our place. They are welcome to it. If you have reached old age, you have made some blunders in you life. If you think otherwise, then you are indeed a fool. You can warn the new generations about the mistakes you made, but they are oblivious. This too is as it should be. It’s their world, and it’s on them to screw it up for the generations to follow, just as we did for them.

Good Deeds

There is a saying that no good deed goes unpunished. It’s mostly – but not always – true. The problem with good deeds is that most people who do them expect to be appreciated. In actuality, good-deed recipients are more often resentful about it, rather than grateful. Nobody likes being the person who has to rely on the good will of others. So do good deeds for your own sake – because it makes you feel better, not because you want to be feel appreciated.

Recreational Bitching

Did you ever notice that some people – maybe more people than not – like to complain about everything? In the summertime, it’s too hot. In the wintertime it’s too cold. Health care is too expensive. Young people are too rude. Old people move too slowly. There ought to be a law against anything and everything that might make one unhappy. It’s recreational bitching, and we all do it to greater or lesser extent. Maybe once in a while, it might make sense to listen to how we talk and how we think. Most of us are just doing the best that we can.