Bravery in the face of death

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I suppose this may be off-topic, but I'm going to post it anyway, because I think it speaks to the fact that there still are some brave and true Americans who can be counted on when things get tough. All of you, I'm sure, heard about the tornado that struck just north of Shreveport Saturday night, killing six and injuring 100, six of them critically. Out of that tragedy came a brief sidebar on a Shreveport station today about a family of three men, two women and a small child. Warned that the tornado was approaching, the three men put the two women and the child in a closet. There was room for no more, so the men found a corner and waited. In the aftermath of the killer storm, rescuers found the women and the child unharmed. The three men were killed. As long as we have people who are willing to sacrifice their own lives for the safety of others, there is hope, even in this sometimes dismal, selfish world in which we live. I hope that the same sort of courage and devotion is apparent if things go as badly as some of think they will. Happy Easter.

-- Vic (Roadrunner@compliant.com), April 04, 1999

Answers

Good story Vic. There are still people who care. There are still people willing to sacrifice themselves. Don't ever discount the Gen X folks. We're the one's that will fight for eveyones freedom. Don't discount the guy with the pony tail, we may be on your side.

-- d (d@dgi.old), April 04, 1999.

The guys with the pony tails and the long hair are the ones who ARE on your side.

The Dog

-- Dog (desert dog @-sand.com), April 04, 1999.


Right on Dog! I'm growing out my hair while I still have it. My generation, the twenty somthings, are the ones who are going to do the fighting (if there is any). We're the ones who have to face the reality of the foreign policy. We're the ones with the most to lose. We're also the ones who'll fight the hardest for our future.

Sure the baby boomers have beaten us into submission, but we may still include you in our fight. Never mind your oppression, never mind the neo 60's fascism in the name of the environment... Never mind our latch key existence.

Actually, we may forget you and your attempt to make adults out of us before our time. We may forget your violence and hatred. We may forget the worst of your politics.

This is your world in which we grow and we will grow to hate you.

-- d (d@dgi.old), April 04, 1999.


Cool, d ! Then the boomers can hate those who "made" them what they are/were, and we can all bite backwards forever in an orgy of hatred and blaming anyone but ourselves !! Count me in !

-- Blue Himalayan (bh@k2.y), April 04, 1999.

As a boomer myself, I'll stand with Blue. As for you, d, I learned to fight before you were born, I faced the reality of a bad foreign policy, I didn't oppress you, and I have a daughter who wasn't latchkey. Don't blame me for your parents' shortcomings. Quit your bitching and act like a man.

-- Vic (Roadrunner@compliant.com), April 04, 1999.


Bravo Vic

As Don Henley sings, "Get Over It!"

-- Carol (cajun@bayou.com), April 04, 1999.


In any true survival situation, the only rational rule is "women and children first". Period.

Thank you for the story.

-- Jon Williamson (pssomerville@sprintmail.com), April 04, 1999.


There should be some exceptions to that rule!

-- Me too (Bruce@Ismay.com), April 04, 1999.

When I saw the news story last night I remembered when my folks lived in Shreveport and I visited that flower-garlaned city. I grew up in N. Illinois tornado country....Watching the front and heading for the basement were not uncommon in my childhood. My parents waited out the storm that took out the second story of their business, with them under tables at ground level in 1964. It grieves me that the men who helped died. Uncommon human courage I think is not so uncommon...we just don't hear about it unless it's in the "human interest" spot on the evening news, after the "If it bleeds it leads" spot. They'd rather tell us how many people we need to fear, and what unsafe machine could kill us. All of this of course is plain balderdash. However, I don't think courage is bound up with being "an American". Is it North American, Central American, South American? I would bet you dollars to donuts there are common acts of courage regularly there too....Our focus can be on the "common" acts of courage and compassion that happen on the planet daily...The media moguls want to tell us the world is "Cops" and "Jerry Springer", but I know it is not. It is okay to claim comradeship with courageous people without resorting to nationalistic anthems. Rejoice in being a part of homo sapiens who can act not only badly but with great courage.

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), April 04, 1999.

--d, you've bought the propaganda about "boomers"...who don't really exist as a group. You have to separate them out...you can't rely on media over-generalizations...Don't do what the media does and leap without seeking knowledge of your own...I was born in that time period,...I did not sell out my values to become the conspicuous consumer...I did not sell out and say, "hey this political game might me a good thing afterall." Contempt prior to investigation can get you into trouble when judging people. The rule is ask questions first, then shoot, unless your looking at the barrel of a gun. Then all bets are off.

The popular media has demonized the generation that came post WWII as an aggregate that doesn't exist other than as a demographic. Personal knowledge, and experience --d is what you should be aiming for.

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), April 04, 1999.



You are right, Donna. Acts of courage and bravery are not the sole provine of the United States. There are similar acts of bravery and self-sacrifice elsewhere in the world. My point is that there is hope for us where such sentiment resides.

-- Vic (Roadrunner@compliant.com), April 04, 1999.

I wasn't blaming you personally Vic and Blue, although you sure do seem eager to defend your generation because it is free from guilt. Although you don't want to share any of the blame for the current situation, I congradulate you for blaming my parents. Kudos to you for such a thoughtful analysis of the situation.

The statement "Quit your bitching and act like a man" simply fills me with respect for the wonderful world that I live in. Hell, I wouldn't have the honor if you hadn't "learned to fight before you (me) were born."

Well golly gee, thanks guys! BTW Carol, I can quote quite a few coke heads too. Would that help?

-- d (d@dgi.old), April 05, 1999.


--d, Is this quoting your sarcasm? ....."The statement "Quit your bitching and act like a man" simply fills me with respect for the wonderful world that I live in. Hell, I wouldn't have the honor if you hadn't "learned to fight before you (me) were born." "

State what you think clearly without resorting to sarcasm...the internet is not a medium that allows clear discourse with sarcasm without alerting to it. And besides that, the ignorant that say what is in your quotation are not worth quoting.

If that is what you heard I don't blame you for being bitter....the old.."we taught you" stuff never held much sway with me...the "we had more courage than you have in your little finger, boy", always seemed like just the same old patriarchal BS to me....and I'm female and didn't get near as much as the guys did.

--d You must seek out people who don't do that patriarchal rank-pulling crud...there are those of us from that era that don't do that. There are those of us from that era that got the same crud, and decided not to follow the old legacy that dictated that we pass it on down. OUR children are the ones that will not have the same scars,...they are the ones that will not follow the same old dictators. I hear your cynicism, and I remember.

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), April 05, 1999.


Easy folks... We are all GIs here (with the exception of Norm, et al), and our values viv-a-vis Y2K and the machinations of our Federal governmnet cut across all hair styles, I hope. :o)

-- Novacop (Sandmann@alasbab.com), April 05, 1999.

C'mon, don't generalize about people: categorization by age (or any other datum) is the effluent of 'mass-man-ism' that marks our increasingly totalitarian age. Totalitarians hate individuation, and desire cookie-cutter people that can the more easily be herded here and there. Resist with love.

-- Spidey (in@jam.com), April 05, 1999.


Y'know, if things get "squirrelly" later this year, we'll all be far too busy to sweat which Madison Avenue demographic group someone's in. We might want to get some practice in now...

I showed my teens some old college pix of me with long hair, a goatee, and way scruffy clothes. "Yeeech!" was the response. "Dad, you needed a haircut and a bath, dude!" Their Grandpa would have been so proud of 'em. 8-}]

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.com), April 05, 1999.


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