Prince Harry: I’m No Hero
Prince Harry has returned home to Britain after word leaked that he was serving in Afghanistan. But he is rejecting the title that the press and politicians are trying to hang on him. He is, he insists, no hero.
LONDON (AFP) - Prince Harry, pulled out of a 10-week tour of duty in Afghanistan for security reasons, wants a swift return to the frontline, he said an interview published Sunday, insisting he is not a hero.
But as the 23-year-old spent his first night on British soil since mid-December, the head of the British Army dealt his ambitions an immediate blow, saying he was unlikely to return to the fray in the near future.
Harry, third in line to the throne and a second lieutenant in the Blues and Royals regiment of the Household Cavalry, was met by his father, Prince Charles, and elder brother, Prince William, at a British air base Saturday.
The young prince said he was "slightly disappointed" about having to come home early, after a US website broke an embargo agreed between British media and the defence ministry not to publish his whereabouts for security reasons.
And he said he was now waiting to hear from his superiors about his future role but was still keen to rejoin his regimental colleagues….
…."You do what you have to do, what's necessary to save your own guys. If you need to drop a bomb, worst case scenario then you will, but then that's just the way it is," he said.
"It's not nice to drop bombs… but to save lives that's what happens."
But he rejected the tag of "hero", amid fulsome praise for his work from British political and military leaders and the media.
"I wouldn't say I'm a hero at all. I'm no more a hero than anyone else. If you think about it there's thousands and thousands of troops out there," he said.
Two unconscious, badly injured soldiers — one of whom lost an arm and a leg to a landmine — were on his plane home, he told reporters.
"Those are the heroes," he said.
I would not know the prince if I passed him on the street. But I do know one thing. He is absolutely correct. He is not a hero. He did his duty. He wants to go back to his unit. He cares for his men. He is not a hero. He is a soldier.
A damn fine one.
War, World news | Gaius Saturday, 1 March , 2008
By feeblemind, Saturday, 1 March , 2008 @ 8:27 pm
Too bad they can’t make him King. He has been a fine example for the subjects of the UK.
By martian, Sunday, 2 March , 2008 @ 1:57 pm
Sounds to me like he knows the two words that make a military officer a true leader: "Follow me".