"Dear Hero"... so began a letter I received from a third grade school student from a Christian school in Pennsylvania who was writing to encourage a then anonymous service member-me.

"...It's really nice of you to do what you are doing! I think that's amazing! America is counting on you. I always wanted to be a hero. So be proud that you're one.... It would be cool if you wrote me back! May God be with you!" Sincerely, Toni V.

Hero? I have never thought of myself as a hero. Heroes for me tended to be those people who are larger than life, who achieve major accomplishments and go on to legendary status. Then again I stopped to think what this third grade student wrote and I realized that the world is full of heroes- ordinary people who do extraordinary things. Marines, Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen, Coast Guardsmen, teachers, moms, dads, grandparents, police, clergy, firefighters, doctors, plumbers, waitresses, secretaries, and students etc, even young ones are heroes. Heroes are those who don't give up on their responsibilities despite being tired, challenged or threatened. Heroes do the 'extra' ordinary by going that extra mile and seeing a task to completion and doing it with the right attitude-because it's the right thing to do.

The Holy Scriptures are filled with heroes of faith-- ordinary people who did extraordinary things like believing the possible when all seemed impossible or loving the unloving and staying faithful when others walked away from faith in God because of disappointment, frustration or even anger.

I wrote back to Toni and now I have a new extended family. I have a newfound group of young heroes who do the "extra" ordinary thing such as writing letters of encouragement and support or sending me care packages. When I have a long hard day and things don't always seem to go right, I think of Toni's words of encouragement and that heroes are ordinary people who do not give up because of temporary limitations or set backs and I recommit to the cause. But the real hero in all this is the 'ordinary' little girl in Pennsylvania who wrote an extraordinary letter and revolutionized my way of thinking. Toni and all of Mrs. Brown's students you are my new found heroes!

Lt. Cmdr. Louis Rosa, 24th MEU Chaplain.