Where Has Honor Gone?

Where has honor gone? It seems the media is fascinated with those that lack character. Do you know who David Letterman is? Mark Sanford? Paris Hilton? Lindsay Lohan? Roman Polanski? Chiune Sugihara?

Chiune Sugihara is the answer to yesterday's Who Am I? My dad always taught me that a true man of honor acted with the same ethics if he were alone or if a million people were watching. I challenge all of you that didn't participate in yesterday's Who Am I to do an Internet search of Chiune Sugihara, for he not only was a true man of honor he was a true hero. He did what he did not for money or fame but because it was the right thing to do. Some of the comments from those that answered yesterday's trivia: Wow, what a story (Connie), another fascinating person (Pat) and with permission here are DR's emails:

" if every person in the world -- regardless of race, creed, religion, prejudice, whatever ... was to read the biographies you include in your "who am I" questions, folks might begin to think more about what can be done to help today and realize the challenges and dangers so many faced, to give us (not just the US, but other free countries) the freedoms we have today and to encourage others to help the rest of the world realize those freedoms. While I realize that hatred and vengeance and greed blind many, if we could open the minds of people around the world to the possibilities, to the rewards of meeting challenges and following the dictates of the heart, rather than those of hatred or dogma... who knows what might happen?"

"We so seldom realize how one person's act(s) -- even if just to one other person -- can change the lives of so many. If one person can give another person hope or a helping hand or encouraging word, who knows how the ripple may spread across the pond of humanity? We may not be able to do much about government or corporations and the like, but I often wonder what would happen if each individual did something *good, helpful or positive* for someone who truly needed it. I suspect the many folks you've featured did what they did without thought to whether they'd appear in history's pages or be recognized during their lifetime or even be thanked."

These two emails bring up several questions. Where are the heroes today? What happened to doing the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do? When did profit and self-promotion become more important motivations than what is best for the United States and all of us as a whole? Where has honor gone? What can we do to bring honor back to the television and movie screens and to the daily newspapers?

TODAY'S WHO AM I?

I born was in 1906 under another name than I am most known by. I was the youngest of five children. My dad was a skilled millwright that moved from town to town. In 1920 I was married at a young age to an aircraft mechanic from a naval base near where I lived. I gave birth to my first son four months later. Four years later we divorced. My son died a tragic death at age five after he set his clothes on fire while playing alone in our backyard. Although I denied my family and past, I remained in touch with my family and provided for them over the years. Later on, one of the ten richest men in the world offered to help me establish a cosmetics business. I married him in 1936. Before marrying him I started taking flying lessons. Within three weeks I learned to fly an airplane. Within two years I obtained a commercial pilot's license. I flew my own aircraft around the country promoting my cosmetic products. Marilyn Monroe endorsed my line of lipstick.

I flew my first major race in 1934. In 1937 I was the only woman to compete in the Bendix race. I worked with a famous woman pilot to open The Bendix Race to women.
Also in 1937 I set a new woman's national speed record. By 1938 I was considered the best female pilot in the United States. I was the first woman to break the sound barrier (with Chuck on my wing), I was the first woman to fly a jet across the ocean, and the first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic. I won five Harmon Trophies as the outstanding woman pilot in the world. Before we joined World War II, I was the first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic. In 1940 I wrote to a first lady to introduce the proposal of starting a women's flying division in the Army Air Forces. To qualify for pilot positions to help male pilots we had to have at least 300 hours of flying time, but most of the women pilots that I recruited for the service had over 1,000 hours. We had to pay our own way to travel for a physical exam and flight check. Only myself and twenty-four other women passed muster. Some women were a little reluctant to go overseas because they wanted to be flying for (and in) the United States, but those that went became the first American women to fly military aircraft. In 1942 I was made director of women's flight training for the United States. I was the first woman to land and take off from an aircraft carrier and the first pilot to make a blind (instrument) landing. For my war efforts, I received the Distinguished Service Medaland the Distinguished Flying Cross. I witnessed Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita's surrender in the Philippines, then I was the first (non-Japanese) woman to enter Japan after the War. I also attended the Nuremberg Trials in Germany. After the war I was the first pilot to fly above 20,000 feet with an oxygen mask. I hold more distance and speed records than any pilot living or dead, male or female. In 1948 I joined the U.S. Air Force Reserve rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. I ran for Congress in 1956 from California's 29th Congressional District as the candidate for the Republican Party. I defeated a field of five male opponents to win the Republican nomination, I lost the general election to the Democratic candidate. I died in 1980. My aviation accomplishments never gained the continuing media attention given to a woman pilot that died at a young age. Countries in addition to The U.S. gave me awards. The government of France recognized my contribution to the war and aviation, awarding me the Legion of Honor and the French Air Medal. I am the only woman to receive the Gold Medal from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. Who Am I?