OPINION: Heroes are among us; we just need to see them

This editorial was published in the Yakima Herald-Republic.

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With Veterans Day on Monday, we’re talking a lot about heroes.

We should be. Our veterans all swore an oath to uphold the United States Constitution and agreed to lay down their lives to protect their country. That’s about as much heroism as anyone could ask for.

But heroes come in all shapes, sizes and colors, and this week in particular, we think it’s worth remembering that courage, commitment and loyalty shouldn’t be overlooked or taken for granted.

It’s also worth noting that heroes often walk unnoticed among us — the real ones generally don’t make a big show of their actions. They do what they do out of a sense of compassion, responsibility, duty.

Wapato’s Ryan Vasquez set out last month to run from the Yakama Reservation to Oregon’s Warm Springs Reservation to raise awareness about missing and murdered Indigenous people. He made the 120-mile trip in less than three days, despite suffering a painful knee injury on his way down the grade from Goldendale to the Columbia River.

Vasquez told Herald-Republic writer Tammy Ayer that he wanted to set an example for his two young children by showing them the value of not backing down against long odds.

“When things seem impossible, they’re really not,” he said. “You chip away at it one step at a time.”

Yakima EMT Miki Leslie, meantime, will be honored in Washington, D.C., next week for the heroism she showed by jumping into action — while she was off duty — to help two children and two adults who were in a single-vehicle rollover.

The August 2023 crash was near Leslie’s home, and the American Medical Response worker was first on the scene.

“She immediately triaged all the patients and called first responders en route to update them on the conditions of each patient,” Yakima’s AMR operations manager David Lynde said in a news release. “She stayed throughout the call and assisted responding EMS with patient care, playing a vital role in the management of the scene and treatment of each patient, even without additional help or equipment.”

Vasquez and Leslie are two Yakima Valley people who’ve shown admirable heroism, but they’re nowhere near the only ones.

Thousands of self-sacrificing parents, teachers, nurses, first responders and social service workers across our region put others above themselves every day. They do what they believe is right, no matter the potential cost or danger to themselves.

It seems important to remember that they’re out there — maybe living next door, maybe working in the same building as you or maybe sitting at the next table over as you eat your dinner.

And this is a good weekend to honor them.

TNS