TRUE HEROES USE RESTRAINT AND VALUE ALL HUMAN LIFE

It was August 1965, it was during the Watt's Riot.

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I was 12 years old. About 5'8' and 150lbs. The only store that was open was a Safeway Store, where National Guard was staged. My mother needed milk for my baby sister and a few other items. My mother and father had recently divorced.

I rode my bike down an alley to avoid the traffic. As I came to the end of the alley. I did a hook slide to stop. It caused a lot of dust and debris to fly into the air. When the dust settled, I found myself looking up the barrel of an M-14 being held by a thin white man, dressed in Army gear. He was shaking and scared to death. But he didn't shoot me. He cursed me out and I rode away alive.

In 1971 I was at a party. It was in Compton, CA where I was grew  into adulthood. I was talking to a deputy sheriff who was called because a neighbor  complained about the loud music. As I was telling him I would go in and tell the person who lived there to come out, to my surprise a man was walking towards him with a meat cleaver lifted above his head ready to strike the the deputy. In an instant the officer, turned drew his gun, placed it in the center of the forehead of the assailant, and said, "Drop it mother!!". The idiot dropped the meat cleaver and the deputy turned him around and placed handcuffs on him and walked him to his patrol car.

By no means were any of the incidents the norm back then, but it showcases what a true hero is in my eyes. Men who could have taken a life and chose not to.

Sargent York received the Medal of Honor during WWI. One of the reasons,  he single handedly captured scores of Germans who had surrendered.

Even under the Geneva Convention when a enemy solider, throws down his weapon and raises his arms to surrender he becomes a non-combatant, and should not be killed.

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My favorite comic heroes and TV heroes Batman, Superman, the Lone Ranger all had a common characteristic. PRESERVE HUMAN LIFE 

When did the value of heroism change? When did it become a sign of courage and honor to kill an unarmed man or child? 

How is it that people like George Zimmerman, Darren Wilson, Joe Horn, Michael Dunn, Daniel Pantaleo, can be elevated to heroes by so many for their lack of courage, honor and regard for human life?

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Yes American Values have changed for the worse. Every American deserves his day in court, if charged with a minor crime or infraction. Not to be shot 6 times or choked to death. This type of attributes belongs to villains not law abiding citizens and police officers.

I now believe it is taught in police training that if you kill an unarmed black man in America, that there will be no serious consequences or indictment. It's an unwritten rule that needs to stop.

I applaud the many of people of all races who came out in protest of the non-indictment of Wilson and Pantaleo.

But what will it really change?

Nothing!!!!, until the American Value of RESTRAINT AND RESPECT FOR ALL HUMAN LIFE is restored and cowards, lairs, and murders who use the law as a shield, be given what they deserve.