NO MEDALS IN FIGHT ON HONORING FREED GIS.

Byline: Dennis McCarthy 

``Hero: Any man admired for his courage, nobility or exploits, especially during war, or any man admired for his qualities or achievements and regarded as an ideal or model.'' - Webster's Dictionary.

If you want to start an argument, walk into any bar, barbershop or veterans' hall in town and put down your 2 cents on whether or not returning Kosovo prisoner-of-war Andrew Ramirez is a hero.

It doesn't matter that the kid never asked for the title and has said many times that he doesn't consider himself a hero.

Many in the media do, and so do the people who organize parades, hand out keys to the city and can get you free box seats. That's good enough.

So sit back and enjoy the ride, kid. You're a hero, whether you think so or not. Whether you deserve it or not. Smile for the camera.

But a lot of the men and women who have also worn the uniform of this country aren't smiling.

They've been writing letters to the editor and calling to complain that it looks like the standards are falling on yet another long cherished commodity in this country: heroes.

``What about the millions of young men who were maimed, killed or interned as prisoners of war in the past wars, both declared and undeclared?'' wrote Joseph Goldstein of Los Angeles.

``Some were cruelly treated in their captivity. None were proclaimed heroes. Nor were their families flown to meet them upon release.''

Or Earl Horwitz in North Hills, a Navy veteran of World War II, who said he saw more injuries in boot camp than the three POWs received during their incarceration.

``To give them Purple Hearts was an insult to those who earned them during all the wars we've been in,'' Horwitz said, adding that the men deserve this country's gratitude, but not the right to be called heroes.

But there are others, including Jim Whittaker of North Hollywood, who make a strong argument that there are different kinds of heroes and Ramirez is ``an ordinary hero'' - the best kind, Whittaker said.

``You don't have to be a Michael Jordan or an Audie Murphy to be a hero,'' said Whittaker, an Army veteran. ``Most of us can never measure up to those kinds of heroes, but there are other kinds of heroes.

``When a little kid in the neighborhood looks up at you and sees here's a guy who didn't choose the path of drugs or gangs, but instead tried to do something in his own little way, those are the kinds of heroes we need,'' Whittaker said.

I called Pam Murphy, Audie's widow, who still works with disabled vets in Sepulveda. She said it doesn't bother her that Ramirez is being hailed as a hero, and she's sure it wouldn't have bothered Audie, either.

``All these vets are heroes, and I know Audie felt the same way,'' she said. ``He always had the greatest respect for what they did and sacrificed for their country. They were all heroes in his mind.''

Still, it doesn't sit well with other veterans, men and women, who can't understand the red carpet treatment being given Ramirez.

``Here's what my heart tells me,'' said Betty Jane Williams of Woodland Hills, a retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Colonel who served in World War II as a Women's Airforce Service Pilot.

``I had so many dear friends killed under the brutal conditions of war and friends who spent many months in hospitals recovering from horrendous wounds,'' she said. ``Those are the real heroes.

``It tears my heart out when I get appeals for funds from paralyzed vets who can't walk or do anything, and no one's calling them heroes or inviting them to ride in parades.

``But the city has gone ape (over Ramirez), for what? What did he do?''

Maybe the guys who have had to swallow hardest are the Vietnam veterans, who came home to indifference and taunts, not parades and box seat tickets.

``My walk home certainly wasn't what Ramirez's has been,'' said Angel Perez, who was wounded twice as an infantryman in 16 months of combat in Vietnam. He serves as director of El Centro De Amistad, a nonprofit youth and family services agency in San Fernando and Canoga Park.

``I have mixed feelings about the whole thing,'' Perez said. ``I'm proud of him as a Mexican-American serving his country, but the guys I knew (in Vietnam) got blown up and fought for years to get their Purple Heart.

``But it's not his fault. The media . . . put him on center stage. Maybe it's because we haven't had a war hero for a long time and we're looking for one.

``Hopefully, in a couple of weeks, it'll be old news,'' he said.

Many hope.