Happy Birthday America (247 years old!), Heroes vs Celebrities, & Congratulations to the Pat Tillman Foundation (PTF) 2023 Scholars!

1/ Happy Birthday America👏💯🎆!! I can’t believe 2026 will be the 250th birthday of America!

2/ Congratulations to the most recent 2023 PTF Scholars! PTF is a fantastic organization and community of leaders. PTF scholars will have a massive positive impact on this country. Here are some of the newest scholars I could find on Linkedin:

- Tsikata Apenyo, US Army
- Jessi M. Atherton, US Army
- James Brooks, United States Marine Corps
- Taylor Calibo, US Navy
- Ricky Ditzel JR., US Army
- Erin Edwards, US Navy
- Orain Edwards, United States Air Force
- Demon Foster, United States Air Force
- Zachary Graham, US Army
- Charles Hernandez, US Army
- David Hibler, US Army
- Alex Hilser, United States Air Force
- Barclay J., US Army
- Adam Whisler, US Army
- Tirone Young, US Army
- Nikki Rizzi, US Army
- Rebecca Patterson, MPH, CPH, US Navy
- Evan Mitchell Zepeda, MPH, Military Spouse
- Adam Wallace, United States Air Force
- Dane S., US Army

3/ I'm reading Celebrity Nation: How America Evolved into a Culture of Fans and Followers by Landon Jones. When reading the book I thought of heroes like Pat Tillman, Congressman John Lewis, and SEC/GEN Eric Shinseki. Here are some interesting-thoughtful analysis from the book:

“Societies need heroes and have sought them out since ancient times. Heroes are our founders and builders. A hero is a person (of any gender identity) of great deeds and great dreams who takes great risks and endures sacrifices to lead others in the future. A hero’s fame cannot be manufactured; it is hard earned. Heroes give our society ballast and coherence.

We can manufacture and distribute celebrities like any other consumer products—and did so on a weekly basis at People. But it is not possible to create a hero. Circumstances beyond our control create heroes. Celebrities require an audience; heroes require an action…The more you tell of your heroics, the less heroic you seem, and maybe are…

If we are to encourage heroes and allow them to exert their proper and inspiring influence, we must reckon with our preoccupation with celebrity and acknowledge how it affects us both as a society and individually.

Two features of the recent history of celebrity demand our attention. The first is that while the barrier to entry to celebrity’s ranks has been driven even lower, requiring literally nothing beyond a smartphone and a YouTube account, the entry barrier to heroics remains, as it must, dauntingly high. One begs only opportunity, the other demands risk and self-sacrifice.”

#birthday #heroes #community #military #veterans #america #future #people #leaders #founders #society