A Salute to TV Heroes

Next week we here in America will celebrate Memorial Day, a federally recognized holiday that originated as “Decoration Day” after the Civil War to commemorate fallen Union soldiers. By the 20th century, though, Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who died in all wars, remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

For TV viewers, we have heroes – military members or not – in our favorite shows and now seemed like the appropriate time to salute those men and women who make our TV shows all that much more fun to watch, keep the streets safe and help protect our country even if they are only portraying cops, doctors, lawyers and/or military personnel (et al).

The list that follows may not feature your own personal TV heroes, but I sure hope you will agree that each of the men and women shown below are heroes none the less. You are also more than welcome to include your TV heroes below in our comments section

And now, here is my list of TV heroes (in no particular order):

Detective Kate Beckett on Castle – Kate has been through SO much between losing her mother at such a young age; working with Castle; losing Captain Montgomery after learning his involvement with the men behind her mom’s death and handling all of the bizarre cases. But she has been tough, strong, honest and brave, making her one of the best NYPD Detectives on TV.

Jack Carter on Eureka – He has been a terrific sheriff for the crazy little town of Eureka, which is filled with the smartest minds in the world, saving the town and its inhabitants over and over and over again. I think any town would want him as their sheriff because he has certainly proven his merit.

Special Agent Jethro Gibbs on NCIS – As one of the top agents at NCIS, Jethro has a lengthy and proven track-record of bringing kidnappers, thieves, murderers and all of the bad elements to justice and facing a lot of his own ghosts at the same time. He is the strong, silent type who gets results and makes a massive difference in the world.

Nikita on Nikita – She was trained to be a world-class assassin until she escaped and set out to get vengeance on the agency that made her the woman she is today. Her story is still unfolding; but so far she has saved those she cares about most countless times and saved the country with a relentless will.

Captain Malcolm Reynolds on Firefly – He may have been viewed as a thief and reprobate by the Alliance; but he was a hero not only during the war that made him a “Browncoat” but also to his crew on the Serenity. He may have been a futuristic Robin Hood who was also out for himself he did have a heart of gold.

Jamie Sommers on Bionic Woman – She became the first female human-cyborg hybrid tasked to save the world through the branch of the CIA known as the Office of Scientific Intelligence. This tennis pro-turned enhanced spy really made a difference in a time when women were finally making strong head-ways in the world and she certainly helped bridge the difference – bionics and all.

Who are your favorite TV heroes? Please share.