Ernesto "Che" Guevara (1928-1967)

"An intellectual and an idealist, able to speak coherently about Aristotle, Kant, Marx, Gide or Faulkner, he also loved poetry, and was equally at home with Keats as with Sara De Ibáñez, his favorite writer. It is said that he knew Kipling's "If" by heart."
-Jerry A. Sierra discussing Guevara's high level of intelligence.

I realize that this may be a controversial topic, but please read the whole article before arguing your point. Yes, I understand that he could be ruthless and ordered the executions of hundreds of prisoners without giving them a trial. Yes, I realize that Guevara was a communist and that communism is considered "bad" among Americans. Yes, I know that he supported Fidel Castro, who many consider to be a Cuban tyrant. But Guevara stood up for what he believed in and took it to his grave. His last words included: "Shoot, coward, you're only going to kill a man". He witnessed the terrors of poverty and did what he believed was right to try and stop it. He may not be a hero to you but many people believe his efforts were admirable. He was a brave man who understood he was a rebel and would die for his country, yet he still took on the challenge. I believe that any human who can look death in the eye and accept his fate with such passion is a hero.

Born in Argentina in 1928, Ernesto Guevara he became active in politics in his country as well as in neighboring countries such as Bolivia and Guatemala. He attended that University of Buenos Aires and completed his studies in medical work.

"This isn’t a tale of derring-do, nor is it merely some kind of ‘cynical account’; it isn’t meant to be, at least. It’s a chunk of two lives running parallel for a while, with common aspirations and similar dreams."

In 1952, two years before joining the Cuban revolution, Guevara and his good friend Alberto Granado embarked on a one year expedition through South America. During this trip Che and Alberto witness beautiful landscapes of Peru, Argentina, Brazil and other surrounding countries. But they also discovered the horrors of poverty. Ernesto felt connected to these people and wanted to help them. He kept a journal of his travels during the 8 month trip, which soon became published as The Motorcycle Diaries. Some passages include discriminatory remarks against certain races which shows a darker side to Guevara, but his story is about finding himself and his calling. During his travels he learned that he wanted to end poverty and rebel against those who he saw as tyrants. He soon got his chance.

Guevara met Fidel and Raul Castro in 1954. Shortly after their meeting in Mexico, Guevara joined the Cuban revolution. In 1956 Che and the Castro brothers sailed to Cuba to overthrow Fulgencio Batista, a Cuban leader who used terrorist methods, jailed his opponents and hoarded his fortunes for himself and his associates. Guevara and the Castros did not agree with Batista's form of government and overthrew him in 1959. Fidel became dictator and he appointed Che to overlook the La Cabaña Fortress prison, where he ordered the executions of hundreds of prisoners, refusing to give them a fair trial, if a trial at all. He held other political positions including president of the Cuban national bank and minister of industry.

In 1966 he attempted to create a rebellion against the Bolivian government with little success. He gathered a small guerrilla troop and began a new expedition. In 1967 the Bolivian Army captured Che and murdered him. He was executed and flown to the Bolivian capital, where he was positively identified. The commander-in-chief of the Bolivian army wanted to remove Guevara's head for identification purposes, but "settled" on removing his hands for fingerprinting.

Shortly after his death, posters and pamphlets began to spread around the world. T-shirts have been produced in North America and Guevara's face is plastered next to images of Elvis and the Super Mario Brothers. Unfortunately his face is more well know than his life's work, but Guevara has become a legend and will not be forgotten any time soon. His spirit will live on for generations to come and hopefully his message to fight for the poor and powerless will not be forgotten.

Sources:
Time 100
Biography.com
History Of Cuba
the Eyeopener Online

Eliezer Wiesel

"For the survivor who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear witness for the dead and for the living. He has no right to deprive future generations of a past that belongs to our collective memory. To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time."
-An excerpt from Night by Elie Weisel, published in 1958


Born in a small Jewish community in Sighnet, Transylvania in 1928 (now a part of Romania/Hungary) Elie Wiesel grew up like many young children around him, he attended religious classes, was active in his small town, and had a personal relationship with God. During the early years of World War II, Sighnet was left peaceful and Elie's family held the belief that their small town would be untouched by the German Nazis.

Although, that hope was crushed in 1944, when Elie was sixteen. The Nazis deported the Jewish families to Poland, where the Wiesel Family was separated. Elie and his father were pulled away from Eli's mother and three sisters; his mother and youngest sister later died in the gas chambers. During his stay in the camps, Elie witnessed horrors which made him question how God could ever be so cruel to those so innocent. He lost his faith in humanity. In January 1945 Wiesel witnessed his father's last day, heard his father's last word. He recollects this memory quite clearly:

"On my father's cot there lay another sick person. They must have taken him away before daybreak and taken him to the crematorium. Perhaps he was still breathing... No prayers had been said over his tomb. No candles lit in his memory. His last word has been my name. He had called out to me and I had not answered."
Elie felt guilt over his father's death, but also a quiet sense of relief. He no longer had to worry about his father's wellbeing. He knew his father was no longer in pain. In the four months between his father's death and his freedom from the camps, Wiesel does not describe his life. He was no longer living, he was merely surviving. But in April of 1945 fate crept in and Elie was released back into the free world.

"I have tried to keep memory alive. I have tried to fight those who would forget. Because if we forget, we are guilty, we are all accomplices."

After the liberation of the camps, Wiesel lived in France where, for ten years, he refused to speak of his life during the war. In 1955, at the counsel of a Catholic writer, Wiesel composed a 900 page memoir, And the World Kept Silent, which was first published in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The book was then condensed into a 127-page memoir entitled "Night", which was published in 1958, with little success.

Elie Wiesel moved to New York and was granted American citizenship. He continued to write, finishing other autobiographical works such as Dawn and The Accident. Soon his writing was getting him international acclaim. He chose to visit the Soviet Union after an increased interest in the difficulties that other Jewish families faced during the war. After returning Wiesel dedicated himself to helping to liberate those all over the world who have suffered in similar situations.

In 1976 Elie became the Andrew Mellon Professor of Humanities at Boston University and in 1978 President Carter appointed him to Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. Though one of his biggest achievement since surviving the death was in 1986 when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work.

Wiesel has authored over 36 works on the Holocaust, Judaism, and genocide, including "Night", a memoir of his time in Auschwitz, among other concentration camps.

To read a transcript of Elie Wiesel's Nobel Prize acceptance speech, please go here.

Sources:
Academy of Achievement
Elie Wiesel Biography Page
Jewish-American Hall of Fame
"Night" by Elie Wiesel

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)

"Eleanor shattered the ceremonial mold in which the role of the First Lady had traditionally been fashioned, and reshaped it around her own skills and her deep commitment to social reform. She gave a voice to people who did not have access to power. She was the first woman to speak in front of a national convention, to write a syndicated column, to earn money as a lecturer, to be a radio commentator and to hold regular press conferences."
-Time Magazine in their 1998 Time 100

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (better known as Eleanor Roosevelt) is quite possibly America's most influential first ladies. Although awkward and shy as a young girl, Roosevelt grew into a knowledgeable, powerful woman who would make her mark in American History. Born to Anna Hall and Elliot Roosevelt in 1884, Eleanor was the second of seven children, and the niece of Theodore Roosevelt. Her parents died when she was young (her mother when she was 8 and her father when she was 10) and the young Roosevelt began living with her grandmother in New York where she was educated by private tutors. At age 15, Eleanor was sent t England to attend a girl's school where she met Mademoiselle Marie Souvestre, the headmistress, who had a powerful influence on Roosevelt's thinking. Three years later, she returned to New York where she met Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a distant cousin.

In 1905 she married Franklin and over the next 11 years gave birth to 6 children. During this time she was cut off from her service work in a New York City settlement house, where she had discovered confidence and security. In 1918 Eleanor had a haunting suspicion that Franklin was having an affair. Divorce was threatened, but the issue was resolved. After this incident, Eleanor renewed her relationship with various reformist organizations; focusing her energy on them instead of her marriage. During this time she learned that she had a knack for public speaking and organizing. She formed lifelong friends with other women which heightened Eleanor's sense of security.

In 1921 Franklin Roosevelt, who was the democratic nominee for vice president, became paralyzed with polio. Eleanor took the reigns during this time, traveling the country to discover more about the people that her husband was helping to govern. It soon became clear that the two were a powerful team with the ability to inspire the American public to accept social change. During Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency she traveled through the United States independent of her husband, visiting relief projects, observing living conditions, and bringing about social reform. She often reported back to her husband and helped to advise him in his decisions as president.

When her husband died in 1945 Eleanor expected the media to lose interest in her work as well as her life. But her popularity grew. President Truman appointed her to the United States Delegation to the United Nations. She held the position until 1953, when she resigned. After resigning her position, Roosevelt volunteered with many organizations, was reappointed to the United States Delegation to the United Nations and earned herself a variety of awards. She was also in high demand as a public speaker in the media and in person. She became a well-known writer through her multi-volume autobiography, various columns (including her syndicated column "My Day", which she wrote from 1935 until shortly before her death in 1962), and her monthly question and answer pieces for Ladies Home Journal and McCalls.

In November 1962, Eleanor Roosevelt passed away in her New York home. She remains buried next to her beloved husband at their estate, which is now a national historic site. Eleanor will always be remembered as the "First Lady of the World".

For more information on the FDR National Historic Site, please go here.

Sources:
FDR Library
Time 100

American Soldiers (Past & Present)

"The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here."
-Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), during his famous Gettysburg Address at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on November 13, 1863


On March 19, 2003 President George Bush officially announced the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Since then hundreds of thousands of Americans have volunteered themselves to travel overseas to fight for the freedom of the Iraqi people from the tyranny they face. So far, there have been nearly 5,000 coalition deaths and over 30,000 soldiers wounded. Whether you agree with President Bush's choice to go to go war or not you can not argue that these people deserve respect. They are putting their lives on the line to fight for the freedom of ourselves as Americans and the freedom of others.

Although our soldiers are currently fighting in Iraq, men and women have been fighting for our freedom from centuries. the American Revolution, the Civil War, World Wars One and Two, Vietnam, Korea, the Cold War. These are just a few of the the wars we've been involved in over the past 300 years. On July 4, 1776, exactly 332 years ago, we began a free nation. We earned that freedom and we have continued to fight for it ever since. The hundreds of thousands of men and women over seas have risked their lives to uphold the principles started all those years ago by 56 men, two of which later became President of the United States.

The soldiers at Gettysburg in 1863 endured 51,000 casualties and fought to turn the civil war to favor the Union.

Paul Revere made his famous Midnight Ride in 1775 and warned the rebels that the British were headed toward Lexington and Concord.

In Trenton, New Jersey in 1776 George Washington led his troops into battle on December 25 in a surprise attack on the British. The victory was not only physical but also a moral victory as his soldiers were poorly equipped.

Although these are just a few notable battles and people, but all who have fought for our freedom deserve recognition. To all those who have fought to protect us, we salute you.

For a list of all of the men and women who have sacrificed their lives during the past five years, please go here.

Top 5 Sources:
Antiwar.com
Multied.com
USHistory.com
WhiteHouse.gov
History Place