To my mind, there is a distinct difference between martyrs and heroes.  The
firemen, police and other emergency workers are heroes.  They were not
"conscious" of the sacrifice they were making.  They didn't say "I don't
like this situation, and I'm going to take my life, or allow it to be taken,
to make a statement". They were conscious of the job they had to do,
concentrated on that, and died doing it.

Martyr to me has a connotation of "useless" death.  That may not be the
origianl concept with early religious martyrs, but even there I think there
is an element of pointlessness.  There was nothing pointless about the
heroic efforts of the emergency responders.

Richard White, Director
International Wildlife Museum

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