Heroes and Cowards At The Alamo

I have noticed with some interest the discussions that go on this site concerning who was a hero and who was a coward at the Alamo. These discussions are amazingly insightful and well expressed to say the least.

The fact is, the terms “hero” and “coward” are thrown around a bit too easily, especially by those who have not experienced actual situations where those terms might apply, if they apply at all. This is not meant to be offensive to those who haven’t been in those types of situations. The perspective is just different and was most ably explained on one of the recent threads.

To make a far-out point, Kurt Schilling of the Boston Red Sox was called a hero when he pitched with a bloody foot in the World Series; David Eckstein of my beloved Cardinals was called a hero for playing through an injury and gaining the MVP for last year’s World Series; Peyton Manning is a hero for leading his Colts to the Super Bowl championship in rainy, muddy weather…you get the idea. All courageous performances, but hardly heroic.

The guy who saved the two men in the wreckage of 9/11; the man or woman who sees their children or friends in danger and reacts to save them; the African-American grandmother who stands up to the drug dealers on my son’s beat and together, they confront – and force the thugs out through their resistance; our soldiers who face death every day – forget the political considerations; the fireman who risks his life to save a building, home or complete strangers. The Gonzales 32. You get the idea again. Now those are heroes.

It is important that it be recognized that being frightened does not mean cowardly. Anyone in their right mind in combat is frightened. True, there comes a point for some who become resigned that they will not make it home from their tour of duty and some of the fear goes away, because they feel they are only on borrowed time anyway. But in most cases, there is always that tiny element of hope and with that, fear. I speak from some experience on this matter. It is what one does with fear that differentiates us, but that does not necessarily mean reacting negatively is cowardice.

I remember two years ago, reacting very negatively to a South African lion that took exception to one of my companions’ trying to make him a trophy, but missing. Instead of taking a shot myself at the thoroughly perturbed lion, I scrambled as fast as I could, along with the rest of the Great White Hunters back to the Range Rover, but I don’t consider that cowardice. The reality was I neither wanted to hang a lion’s head up in my rec room, nor did I want to be its dinner meal. There was no need to stick around and prove my manhood, and the others thoroughly agreed. It was better to live to fight, or whatever, another day.

Flat out, from what we know, I see no cowards at the Alamo. We do know, however, that there were heroes there. We hear about Louis Rose possibly being a coward because he went over the wall after lasting most of the siege. There is a possibility that there were suicides. David Crockett and others might have surrendered. James Fannin didn’t make it to the Alamo. Cowards? I just don’t see it. They reacted to the situations at hand the way they saw fit. It’s easy, in retrospect, to judge, but not so easy at the time when the decisions have to be made. I won’t go over all the disparate theories as to why certain people did what they did, because they have already been well stated on the Forum threads and even in some of my pieces. In the end, it’s called survival.

You all remember the scene when George C. Scott as George Patton slaps the soldier who is in the medical tent because of combat fatigue. He calls him a coward. Well, one of the bravest men I have ever known – a man for whom my grandson is named – stormed the beaches at Normandy at 17 years old. After battling through France, Belgium and the Netherlands, including the Battle of the Bulge, amassing more campaign ribbons and combat parachute jumps than you can shake a stick at, he had to be sent home. He couldn’t hold most food down for over 30 years! He was diagnosed as having “combat fatigue.” I wonder what Old Georgie would say to that! Maybe that’s what Rose had, or maybe he had other good reasons, but being a coward doesn’t seem to fit.

To tell the truth, I really don’t know what a coward is. I think I’ve seen them in my 32 years in corporate America, but they’re flotsam of another ilk. I’ve seen people do amazing things in combat – we would certainly call them heroic – and then in a later action, freeze, unable to move. I have been amazed at some who would equate surrendering at the Alamo with cowardism; that the only “honorable” thing to do was keep on fighting and die. Heaven save us from armchair combat soldiers. I’ve also seen the Mexican army described as cowards because they outnumbered the Texians. Hey, that’s basic military strategy, guys, and you always strive to outnumber the other guy.

To see how these inane labels of cowardice ruin people’s lives, we look no further than the case of Juan Seguin, truly one of the paramount heroes of the Alamo and entire Texas Revolution. Some of the newer Anglo arrivals, of course, after the fighting was over, stuck him with the label, because he “left the Alamo” in the middle of the siege. In truth, it was nothing but a way to discredit him, his family and fellow Tejanos, so their rancheros and positions in the fledging republic would be there for the taking by the new arrivals. Unfortunately, the label stuck, and Juan and his family and friends wandered for years, in and out of Mexico and Texas, never fully recovering from the lies. And the sin is, nobody could have been more heroic, sacrificing their lands and yes – their historical cultural connections – for the new republic. Director Jesus Salvador Trevino’s “Seguin,” made for KCET-TV/PBS in 1980, remains the best treatment of Juan’s life to date. Unfortunately, nobody seems to have a copy of it – not even “Chuy”, as his friends call him, and I am proud to be one of them.

So, what is the point of this piece? Well, like most of them, I want to stimulate discussion and my opinions are just that, although sometimes, educated opinions. I just don’t happen to believe that the word “coward” belongs in the Saga of the Alamo. But the word “hero” does.

What do you think?

The discussion continues at the Alamo Site forums...