news is sad

I am a newshound.  I constantly have CNN, USAToday, The Daily Kos, BBC & The Merc’s web pages open on my browser.  Some days I will systematically go through every single story.  Sometimes I share with Ray what I’ve read and sometimes when sharing the news I’ll cry over something because let’s face it, news is sad.

My hubby is very tech savvy.  It’s what he does for a living.  So he’s always threatening to put a block on all news sites so I can’t read the news and get sad.  He’d never do it though (I think) because that would make me sad too.

So it was surprising the other day when he told me some news that made me cry.  I don’t think he thought it would make me sad, but it did, very much so.

He read an article about how 200 Japanese retirees were volunteering to take the place of the younger generation who were exposing themselves to radiation at the power plant trying to get things under control.  They’re called the Skilled Veterans Corp.  Mostly retired engineers and other professionals.  They figure that they will die before the effects of the radiation made itself known to them whereas the younger workers have longer to live.

There are a few reasons that this made me cry.  One being that this is not going to be easy work and they are selflessly offering themselves in the place of someone else because it is what they believe to be the right thing to do.  The humanity humbles me.

But the main reason why it still makes me tear up is that at 73 Yasutera Yamada (who is spearheading the volunteer efforts) was about 7 years old when the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki took place.  He and most, if not al of the Skilled Veterans Corp. saw what the radiation from those bombs did to other Japanese citizens, some possibly had family members who died as a result.

It breaks my heart.

But I marvel at the human spirit and the bravery that people show in times of great need.  Who needs superheroes in this world when you have people like Yasutera Yamada?

When I was reading more about this story I came across this blog post which of course, I can’t find again.  She said that this sort of selfless sacrifice would never be seen in America.  I’m assuming she moved here well after 9/11.  I remember thousands of Americans volunteering amid the dust and destruction at Ground Zero and now, almost 10 years later hundreds have died from the toxins in the dust that they worked in. 

And there’s the hundreds of volunteers who stepped up after Hurricane Katrina when our government turned their backs on Louisiana.  There are the everyday heroes who wake up every morning thinking about how they can make someone else’s life better.  There are the THOUSANDS of military personnel who have fought for this country and others from the beginning of America’s birth.  There are their wives and husbands and children who carry on when some of their spouses or parents come home a shadow of who they were before they left, if they even come back at all.

Don’t tell me America has no heroes.  I will punch you in the mouth and call you a liar.