TUPATALK: A day to celebrate heroes

What is a hero?

According to multiple sources, synonyms include “champion,” “conqueror,” “knight,” “protector,” “victor,” “winner,” and “lionheart.”

Those are only partially correct.

Other aspects of heroism, in my opinion, include: someone guided by a fixed moral compass rather than situational exigencies, courageous when its difficult to be so, strong enough to be gentle, unselfish, and willing to sacrifice something of personal value for the well-being of another.

I believe we live in a society teeming with heroes.

Most of them go one of two titles: “Mom” or “Dad.”

Being that it is Father’s Day this weekend, I’d like to focus on the latter.

When I reflect on heroism in the sports world, the first name that stampedes into my consciousness is Roberto Clemente.

Roberto wasn’t a perfect man. He could complain bitterly to the media when he felt he didn’t get the respect, or even sympathy, he deserved.

Heroes are not perfect.

But, Roberto’s yearning to create a happier life for others set him apart on a high plateau of character. He would require that dads attend his baseball camps with their children because he wanted to strengthen that relationship. He played when hurt — even if he occasionally griped to the press about it — to help the Pittsburgh Pirates rise to high heights of success. He envisioned creating a Sports Utopia for the kids of his native Puerto Rico to help them pursue their dreams.

And, in December 1972, he helped collect several tons of humanitarian goods, as well as money, to rush to the victims of earthquake-ravaged Nicaragua. The Pittsburgh mayor had appointed him as chairman of the committee to procure the desperately needed supplies.

But, Roberto went the extra step. He decided to leave his wife and children on New Year’s Eve 1972, so that he could be on the flight to carry the goods to Nicaragua because he wanted to make sure the goods were distributed properly. Shortly after the airplane took off from Florida, it crashed into the ocean, a final testament to the heroism of a remarkable man. He missed out on watching his children grow up but set an example for them, and all of us, about true caring. My mom wept a good part of that New Year’s Day 1973 after she heard of Roberto’s passing. I suspect she wasn’t alone.

In think about Father’s Day, I appreciate moments the movie “October Sky,” a movie I highly recommend.

Based on a true story, the film follows the awakening of teenagers in a small West Virginia coal town to trying to win the national science fair with their success in rocketry. The group meets with some opposition and apathy in town, particularly by the main protagonist’s father, a coal miner supervisor that disapproves of his son’s pursuit.

In the next-to-last primary scene, the boy tells his skeptical dad: “And it's not because I’m so I’m so different from you either. … I can be just as hard-headed, and just as tough. I only hope I can be as good a man as you.”

It’s funny how even absentee dads can maintain some kind of spiritual connection with their kids.

The couple of days leading up to my high school graduation, I needed to come up with the money to pay my student fees, in order to participate in the ceremony. I didn’t have any money; I lived with my uncle and aunt at the time and didn’t want to ask them because they already gave me room and board for free.

While trapped in what seemed a hopeless dilemma, I got a letter the day of graduation from my mom, who sent along some money ($50 or more) from my dad as a graduation present. I happily went to the school office to square my account. I hadn’t seen my dad for almost five years but yet he still found a way to rescue me when it really, really counted.

A few months later, he stopped by my Uncle and Aunt’s place and asked me to accompany him on a long haul trucking trip to the Bay Area in California to drop off a load — just a dad and a son on the open road in a huge semi enjoying sharing the passing scenery, music and conversation. The days passed quickly; the memories have endured.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: TUPATALK: A focus on Father's Day