The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Commentaryw By Roger Cathcart Heroes and Friends Do you remember the Randy Travis-Roy Rogers duet, "Heroes and Friends," from a number of years ago? I still have the CD, but this article is mainly about Australians who rose to this status, particularly, but not only, in the massive 2011 flood crisis that is still affecting five states Down Under. The Aussies love heroes and one recent one is Lance Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith, the second Aussie soldier to win the Victoria Cross in Afghanistan. Veterans Affairs buildings proudly display pictures of all the Victoria Cross winners on their windows and Ben Ð known as "Big Ben" Ð is the latest. He is a true warrior and, amazingly, is anxious to get back to the war. That is unlikely as if he were to be killed in action, it may have a bad effect on morale, but the previous winner, Mark Donaldson, did return to a lengthy deployment. The disastrous floods have produced a huge number of volunteers and life-savers. Thousands of volunteers helped with the clean-up in Brisbane. Some drove for hours to get there; so many, in fact, that they were difficult to organize, but did a massive job. There is the story of the truck driver who risked his life to save a mother and daughter in the inland tsunami that hit Lockyer Valley. He backed his truck into a pole to stop a small car being hurled down a street, then pulled them out of the car and into his truck. The driver was very humble, rejecting the hero status and saying, "I was just doing what any normal human being would do." The same tsunami destroyed the family of firefighter Danny Mcguire, who had saved strangers' lives a few days before. He was able to rescue one son but not save his wife and other son as their fire truck filled with water. In all, 14 residents died in the deadly tide on Jan. 10. One middle-aged couple Ð she is an expert swimmer and he is a fit weightlifter Ð managed to save their two teenaged sons by shoving them into the attic as a wall of water smashed their home, throwing them into the river where rescuers found them drowned. Another interesting survivor is 75-year-old Ken Adams, who put his five dogs on a mattress as the waters rose near his ceiling. He and his daughter and the dogs were rescued after three hours by their neighbours. Lost everything He had no insurance and lost everything, including his false teeth. Ten people in his small town of Grantham were killed as the flood water went from one foot high to six feet in 15 minutes. One thing for certain is that the insurance companies are not considered heroes or friends by many, as a lot of people with damaged homes did not have insurance. Many dropped their coverage because of the huge increases in rates Ð 20 per cent in the past two years Ð with many more under-insured, and some finding they did not have disaster insurance. This has given rise to a call for compulsory insurance and even a government-run system. This will be difficult to sell as it would levy the whole population for events that only affect a small part of the community. In fairness, insurance companies have had huge payouts the last few years, and of course people insist on living on floodplains. One other hero is Max Pearce, who has been nominated for an Australian Day Award after 20 years of dedication to the community of Bli Bli. Retiring from the agriculture industry in 2002, he has increased his volunteering. He is a volunteer firefighter and involved with the International Student Exchange as president. He has hosted more than 200 international students since 1989. Other groups to which he gives his time range from Landcare and Water Watch, the Historical Society and many others. He has pride in being Australian, and the coastal area is lucky to have him. How about ending with a couple of different studies? One from Britain claims that men whose index finger is longer than their ring finger have a 33 per cent greater risk of prostate cancer than those whose index finger is shorter. Researchers explain that the relative length of fingers is determined in the uterus and may be an indication of the baby's testosterone levels, which may affect risk of the disease. It was a study of over 4,000 men. Another study involving 34,485 people over 65 claims that old people who walk quickly live longer than those who dawdle. More to come. Roger's Right Corner runs Wednesdays.8/4/11
