Congressional Hero Medals for 9/11?

Click here for referenced story - Washington Post

"This legislation commissions the US Treasury to design and strike three Congressional Gold Medals to honor the civilians, public safety workers, airline passengers and crew members killed at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the passengers and crew members of Flight 93, which crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pa."


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We all grieved for the thousands of people who died in this tragedy -- some were friends and neighbors of mine.   But, other than the guys on Flight 23 who reportedly attacked the terrorists, I saw no mass  acts of heroism.  Within the Pentagon and the Twin Towers, there were many individual acts of heroism as individuals raced into infernos and dug through rubble to save incapacitated victims.

But, how is it that all the victims are "Heroes"?

Does Congress now decree those who die en masse in terrorist incidents "heroes"?
If this is the case, should they not go back and name all the victims in the Oklahoma City bombing as "heroes" -- or those who died in the first WTC bombing?  or perhaps, the passengers on Pan Am Flight 103?

I'm reminded of the Soviet habit of designating its citizens at large as "heroes" for simply being citizens in good standing; will we soon be calling each other "comrade" and will we refer to our guardian government as our Big Brother?  Are we morphing into the USSA (United Soviet States of America)?

Yes, there should be a memorial to these victims.  But, let's save the the title "Hero" for those who perform heroic acts.