Ralph Kauzlarich

My definition of a hero is a person who sets themselves apart from the rest, and in moments of danger they will risk their lives for someone else's or for a cause greater than their own. Basically all heroes are born leaders.

In my opinion, yes it is important to have a hero. The reason for this is because a hero is someone you can look up to and someone to model yourself after to become a great if not greater person than they were.

In the novel there were many heroes throughout the book, but one stood out in particular and his name is Ralph Kauzlarich. The reason why I chose Ralph Kauzlarich is because he has great leadership qualities. No matter what kind of situation he or his battalion was in he always said "It's all good" (20) One of the soldiers in the battalion who's name is Brent Cummings and he was the closest person to Kauzlarich and stated what set him apart from others was that "He could see despair and it doesn't bother him much." (46) Which is a good quality of a leader. Also many soldiers had called him "The Kauz".

The person that I want to induct in the "Hero Hall of Fame" is Ralph Kauzlarich. The reason why I chose him is because he has great leadership qualities. Which he obviously needs to have since he is a commander of a whole battalion. When he is stationed in Iraq he is responsible for winning over the people that live in the particular city. He does so by protecting the Iraqis that live there while forcing insurgents out. While there many of his leadership qualities come out, such as how he gains popularity from the Iraq people by making a plan for a much needed sewer system, and to build schools for children, and to provide the city with running water and electricity. So it shows that not only he has concerns for his men but he really does care about the Iraqi people.

Reporter:Do you think it is important to have a hero? Kauzlarich: Yes I do because every person needs someone to look up to and model themselves after. Reporter: Do you have your own hero? Kauzlarich: Yes I do and he is Dwight D. Eisenhower. Reporter: Why would you chose him? Kauzlarich: I chose him because of all of all the things he was responsible for like operation torch, the invasion of French North Africa, and the invasion of Tunisia. Reporter: Do you see yourself as a hero? Kauzlarich: No I do not I see myself as a man who just like many other men, a father, a husband, and a soldier. Reporter: What was it like losing your first soldier in your battalion? Kauzlarich: An experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life, before going to Iraq I had previously never lost a man before and it was the worst experience of my life. Reporter: Why did you give children soccer balls? Kauzlarich: I would give the Iraqi children soccer balls because I was hoping that the parents of the children would ask where they had got it from and would tell them that he had received it from an American soldier which would make them gain our trust. Reporter: What are one of the daily tasks you and your soldiers carried out while in Iraq? Kauzlarich: Well we would go on daily searches through the homes in the city we were stationed in order to find insurgents and arrest them to make the Iraqi citizens lives more safe. Reporter: What was the overall mood or how did the soldiers feel while stationed there. Kauzlarich: Well in the beginning the moods of the soldiers were great but once we started having casualties was when everyone was becoming sad and the overall mood started to become dismal. Reporter: Do the soldiers get any time home between being stationed there? Kauzlarich: Yes, Each soldier gets 18 days back in the states with family and friends. Reporter: What is the transition from military back to civilian life like? Kauzlarich: For some soldiers it is very difficult to make that change because after what they have seen and what the have felt it is hard for them to transition into a civilian lifestyle.