Interview with Mr. Bixler

First, the Heroes Defined Team would like to thank Mr. Bixler for providing us with this interivew, despite the time and effort that was taken. Thank you Mr. Bixler.

Question #1: We understand your son was a hero. What hero qualities do you think your son had? Traits like determination, courage, etc.

Answer: “All of those”. He was selfless, he stood up for what he thought was right, put others first, and tried to be morally correct.  He was concerned when other people were hurt, and always wanted to help.

Question #2: Can you explain further about what he did to possess these hero qualities?

Answer: 
I don't think this can be said by what he did. He possessed the traits through his development. He was brought up this way.   He learned religion at church, he learned skills through boy scouts. Obviously school had a big impact. In certain situations, his traits would arise. 

Question #3: Who was his role model?

Answer: He doesn’t remember him having any childhood hero like a celebrity or sports star. He always wanted to join the military; right after high school was when he did.

Question #4: Did your son always possess these hero qualities or did it show up later when he joined the military?

Answer: When he was young, he was just an average kid like you or your friends. Stephen always had a very “happy-go-lucky” attitude, and was concerned about others. He felt bad about others suffering and constantly wanted to help. Obviously he had always wanted to be in the military, probably from middle school on wards.


Interview taken by Yash Mehta. Transcript by Ben Godin. Number from Zach Luckenbach.