What Makes a Hero?

I have heard the word hero tossed around quite a bit lately and it bothers me how easily one will call another a hero. The climbers on Mt. Hood have been called heroes time and time again yet, I must be missing something here because they don't fit my description of a hero because they were doing something that they considered a hobby, they were doing it for fun, the fact that the weather took a nasty turn and they sadly didn't make it off of that mountain does not make them heroes. To me these people became victims of circumstance and while the whole story is incredibly tragic and I am sure they were good people they didn't do anything that should have elevated them to hero status.

Often sports figures or movie stars are also called heroes; this really grinds me because I fail to see how making millions every year and giving a small portion of it to charity makes anyone a hero; it's a tax write off and good publicity for all of them. I prefer that my child doesn't look up to some who carries on a public affair with a married man without ever thinking twice about the pain she might be causing another person. This is not a hero this is a person who needs to get her values in order no matter how much money she is giving away or how many children she adopts. One must wonder what kind of values those children will grow up to have. While this person may do good deeds she is still a person who publicly behaves in an unacceptable manner.