With Memorial Day behind us and the Fourth of July on the horizon, I got to thinking about the great sacrifices others have made for my freedom — my ability to grill outside without looking up or listening for air raid sirens.

I was asked to be one of the speakers at a Heroes Recognition Day. That was a great honor, not considering myself heroic by any stretch of the imagination.

I got to thinking: What makes someone a hero? What is a hero? How do you identify a hero? And let’s not confuse heroism with bravery.

Some say a hero is born and not made. I say a hero is made, by the examples they see and those who touch them throughout their lives.

A hero is not someone with extra-human strength or special abilities. A hero, in the simplest form, is someone who puts others before themselves — no matter the risk, notoriety or personal gain.

To steal a phrase from a “geeky” movie, when “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one” — that is the thought process of a hero.

Most people think of the superhero, the knight in shining armor rescuing the damsel or the soldier overseas, but I want to bring it closer to home as well, not a larger-than-life person. Some want to go right to a mother or father (parental love is very strong).

Who comes to mind for me? Teachers, public safety officials, health care personnel, fire fighters, police, military service personnel, hardworking and underappreciated frontline workers.

Community leaders who also make a great sacrifice of time and family for the greater good of the community as a whole are heroes. People who make this community, city, state, country and world a place you want to be part of.

What’s the motive? Fame? Fortune? Ha! How about to simply help society and others?

Not only the war heroes, but their parents, spouses, children, brothers and sisters who, in an act of selflessness, bid their loved ones goodbye, never really knowing if they will ever see them again, but understanding it’s for the greater good and safety of us all — and all of us owe them honor and gratitude.

When you think of those who sacrifice for the greater good, who do you think of?

Abraham Lincoln fought slavery. Roosevelt and Truman dropped the bomb to stop the war. John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Who comes to mind for me? Rosa Parks standing for others.

Martin Luther King, Jr. and civil rights. Ronald Regan saying “tear down this wall.” Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi. They are among the many who have gone before.

What about the ones around us everyday?

This Sept. 11, this country will remember what is considered one of our darkest hours next to Pearl Harbor. Reflecting on that dark hour, we should look at the light that overcomes the darkness. Those heroes — men who ran toward when others ran away.

Inside the World Trade Center, there were many stories of heroes. One man could have saved himself but stayed until the end at the side of his quadraplegic friend. A beloved priest died giving the last rites to a firefighter. Two office workers, finding a disabled stranger, carried her down 68 floors to safety. Those are true heroes.

Thank you, to the moms and dads who get up early on Saturday morning to go out and fix the sports fields their kids play on, so that all the children can be safe.

Thanks to the parents who spend time with their children, involved in their lives for their greater good even at the loud objections of that child.

Thanks to the police and firefighters who put their lives on the line every day to protect people they don’t even know, or a youth counselor staying with a child in crisis, averting a possible suicide.

Thanks to the men and women who deliver meals to the elderly. These are true heroes, too.

Heroes come in many shapes and sizes, colors, races and religions. I salute all of you today. Thank you for your service. I pray daily for your safety and that God’s angels would be camped around you to protect and keep you, and that He comfort and bless you and your families for the daily sacrifice you make.

Thank you for your service, Republican, Democrat, independent  Americans alike.

Joe Messina is senior business manager of the Wildcat Business Group and a member of the William S. Hart Union High School District board. His column reflects his own views and not necessarily those of The Signal.