The people who have made an absolute difference. Not necessarily famous people but people in general who have brought about positive change.

Nurses and teachers. Too bad they can't get paid like sports "heros".

The thousands of people who volunteer their time and money to help those less fortunate. These people are a God send in hard times like when they came down here after the hurricanes to help out. I don't know what we all would have done without them. No one applauds them; no one has them as a guest on their talk show; no one gives them awards or asks them to support their candidate but they are true heroes who really make a difference. I for one a very grateful to each and every volunteer out there who gives up so much of their lives for no other reason than to be of assistance to someone in need.

Volunteers , Firemen and Police

I found this interesting story about a Marine who served in Iraq. This story is by Lance Cpl. T. J. Kaemmerer, a combat correspondent. It is a story about a mexican immigrant, who obtained his citizenship by joining the Marines... the following story interested me because this Marine was a Mexican immigrant, who died a true American hero. I would like to share this story with you.- "You're still here, don't forget that. Tell your kids, your grandkids, what Sgt. Peralta did for you and the other Marines today," said Cpl. Richard A. Mason, to a group of Marines after a fierce firefight in the battle-scarred city of Fallujah. I am attached to Company A, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, for Operation Al Fajr. My job is to tell the stories of the heroic actions and daily realities faced by Mason and the rest of Co. A, 1/3, during Operation Al Fajr. The most telling story of that operation was the heroics of Sgt. Rafael Peralta. I normally have to interview Marines to get the full story, but on Nov. 15 I witnessed for myself Peralta's selfless act of heroism, the likes of which generations of Marines have heard about, but so few have actually experienced. With the batteries to my camera dead, I decided to leave it behind and live up to the ethos that "every Marine is a rifleman" by volunteering to help clear the buildings that lined the streets of Fallujah. I was the third man in a six-man group, or what Marines refer to as a "stack." Two stacks of Marines were used to clear a house. Moving quickly from the third house to the fourth, our order in the stack changed. I found Peralta in my spot, so I fell in behind him as we moved toward the house. Peralta was a platoon scout, which meant he could have stayed back in safety while the squads of 1st Platoon went into the danger-filled streets, but he was constantly asking to help out. I learned by speaking with Peralta and other Marines the night before that he frequently put HIS safety, reputation and career on the line for the needs and morale of the junior Marines around him. When we reached the fourth house, we breached the gate and swiftly approached the building. The first Marine in the stack kicked in the front door, revealing another locked door to the front and another to the right. Kicking in the doors simultaneously, one stack filed swiftly into the room to the front as the other group of Marines darted off to the right. After successfully clearing the front rooms in the house, we met up to clear the back room of the house. Two Marines stacked to the left of the door as Peralta, rifle in hand, tested the handle. I watched from the middle, slightly off to the right of the room as the handle turned with ease. Peralta threw open the door and was met by gunfire from three insurgents. Peralta was hit several times in his upper torso and face at point-blank range by the fully automatic 7.62 mm weapons employed by the three terrorists. Mortally wounded, he jumped into the already cleared adjoining room, giving the rest of us a clear line of fire through the doorway to the rear of the house. We opened fire, adding the bangs of our M-16A2 service rifles and the deafening, rolling cracks of a Squad Automatic Weapon to the already nerve-racking sound of the AKs. I saw four Marines firing from the adjoining room when a yellow, foreign-made, oval-shaped grenade bounced into the room and rolled to a stop close to Peralta's wrecked body. In his last fleeting moments of consciousness, Peralta reached out and pulled the grenade into his body. The four Marines scrambled to the corners of the room as the majority of the blast was absorbed by Peralta's now lifeless mass. His selflessness left the four Marines with only minor injuries from smaller fragments of the grenade. During the fight, a fire was sparked in the rear of the house, and the flames grew. The Marine in charge of the squad ordered us to evacuate the injured Marines from the house, regroup and return to finish the fight and retrieve Peralta's body. We quickly ran for shelter, three or four houses up the street, to a house that had already been cleared and was occupied by the squad's platoon. The ingrained code that Marines have of never leaving a man behind drove the next few moments. Within seconds, we headed back to the house, not knowing what we may encounter, yet ready for another round. I don't remember walking back down the street or through the gate in front of the house. When we walked through the door the second time, I prayed that we wouldn't lose another brother. We entered the house and met no resistance. We couldn't clear the rest of the house because the fire had grown immensely, and the danger of the enemy's weapons cache exploding in the house was increasing by the second. Most of us provided security while Peralta's body was removed from the house. We carried him back to our rally point and upon returning were told that other Marines who went to support us encountered and killed the three insurgents from inside the house. Throughout Operation Al Fajr, we were constantly told by our leadership that we were making history, but even if the history books never mention this battle and Peralta's heroism, I'm sure that Nov. 15, 2004 and Peralta's sacrifice will never be forgotten by the Marines who were there. And niether will we, I found this on this page on an image search of true heroes, and Sgt. Peralta's photo came up first, he is a true hero indeed. If you would like to learn more about Sgt. Peralta here's the link listing more stories and posts in tribute to him and others. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.starman417.com/memorial.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.floppingaces.net/true-heroes/&h=300&w=467&sz=26&hl=en&start=15&tbnid=mljDW4mgT56cPM:&tbnh=82&tbnw=128&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtrue%2Bheroes%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG Sgt. Rafael Peralta USMC Semper Fi!

Teachers and mental health workers- whom are also the most underpaid. Isn't it sick that some marketing schmuck for selling triple cheese stuffed crust pizza makes more than a teacher or social worker?

G'day Gtravels, Thank you for your question. It is the people who put themselves in harms way every day to protect us. It is the people who work long hours caring for the sick and disadvantaged. It is the volunteers who work hard for the community. They are the real heroes. Regards

Someone who loves so much that they will give their life for another.

teachers and veterans.

I would like to add librarians to the list

Our Marines, Soilders, Sailors, Airmen, Teachers, Nurses, Police, Firemen, Parametics, and Voluteer Workers are the true Heros. May their scarifices never be in vain or forgotten.

Honest ordinary people, it is the hardest thing to be in the today's world. In our country we say a real human, or on Croatian 'pravi čovjek'.

The people who take time out to do charitable unpaid work to help others who are less fortunate than themselves.