Articles

By: Brennan Garriques

Spoilers!!

Since watching the 1997 film Air Force One last week, there has been a particular idea I’ve been chewing on. If you’ve seen the Harrison Ford action thriller, you know why it’s these words in my head. Here they are:

To die a martyr for Jesus Christ is the highest act of courage because it is to die in defense of the greatest good. 

In Air Force One, the plane of the same name is meant to deliver the President of the United States and his family safely from Moscow back to American soil. However, soon after it takes off, it is hijacked by a group of communist radicals, and the rest of the film follows President James Marshall (Harrison Ford) as he tries to rescue the hostages on board. Although he is a war veteran, he is not a one man army (which I rather appreciated), and in the end, it takes the heroism of many other brave souls to defend the good. 

Paragraph 1808 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church says “the virtue of fortitude [courage] enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. It disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice his life in defense of a just cause.” Of the many souls in this film who possess this virtue, I will only share about four of them. That said, it’s worth the watch to see who else makes the list.

Vice President Kathyrn Bennett (played by Glenn Close) is the first hero I would like to acknowledge. With news of the hijacking, she finds herself in command at the White House. Others on the ground repeatedly attempt to influence her toward actions she knows are not right. Instead of giving in to these temptations, she conjures up the full force of her femininity and demands the men in that room rally behind their president. They do exactly that, and I suspect more lives would have been lost if she had not remained resolute in her convictions.

Example number two is the original pilots of Air Force One who, once aware of the hijacking, make their new objective landing the plane at all costs. In the face of possible death, we hear these chilling words from the cockpit: “No matter what happens, we land this aircraft.” This pilot offers his life as well as his words, and even with a gun to his head, he holds steady in his attempt to land the plane. In fact, he manages to touch the wheels to the ground before paying the ultimate price.

Chief of Staff Lloyd Shepherd (played by Paul Guilfoyle), who I must admit initially garnered my suspicions, is another man to mention. Near the end of the movie, with no time to think, he jumps in front of an incoming bullet and saves the president from a blow that would most likely have ended his life. In reference to my suspicions, I am not sure if Shepherd believed the president was worth saving at the beginning of the film. I do believe, though, that it was in part the president’s own courage throughout the flight that aroused Shepherd’s in that moment.

The unnamed fighter pilot, “Halo Two”, is my final example, and he too manages to conquer his fear, even of death. “I’m going in” are the last words we hear as he steers his craft into an oncoming missile aimed to strike Air Force One. Those words were very clearly written on his heart, and I hope they are written on mine. I want that kind of decisiveness and confidence in the face of fear. I want to be the type of man who is not simply inspired by this pilot from the comfort of my couch, but the type of man who leaves my couch willing to defend the good when it is threatened. Indeed, this is the call of every Christian. 

We who have been entrusted with the greatest good are invited to the highest type of courage. And yet we can only achieve such heights if we become intimately familiar with the Good, or rather, with Jesus Himself. If we do not know the heart of the One we are defending, and if we do not believe in His heart for us, then how would we be able to make that act of love of which there is none greater: to lay down one’s life for one’s friend? 

We all have a responsibility to know the good and strive for the courage necessary to defend that good, even perhaps with our lives. The heroism displayed during Air Force One is a resounding witness of how the Christian should live his life. Whether the good that is threatened is our president, our freedom, our family, or our Lord, let us be the type of people who would die for what’s right if we must. May the words of Jesus grant you peace in the midst of the battle. “In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world” (John 16:33).