20070418 Out of the horror emerges a hero

Out of the horror emerges a hero by Andrea Peyser of the New York Post

Don Surber calls to our attention “The best Va. Tech story.”

April 18, 2007

Photo credit: AP

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04172007/news/columnists/out_of_the_horror_emerges_a_hero_columnists_andrea_peyser.htm

Don Surber writes: I kept my big yap shut on Monday about the rampage on Virginia Tech. I had nothing intelligent to offer.

Andrea Peyser of the New York Post did. Her column, “Out of the horror emerges a hero,” is an excellent read. Right from the get go:

POP! One second, Derek O’Dell was studying German in the second-floor Virginia Tech classroom.

The next, he whipped his head around, just in time to see a bullet tear through the skull of the young man sitting next to him.

Even then, Derek, who turned 20 on Friday, thought the whole thing must be a terrible prank.

“And then I saw the blood,” he said quietly.

This newspaper journalism at its best. Read the whole thing, please.

Hat tip: Lucianne.com.

Actually – as called to our attention by one of the commenters, “lawhawk,” on Mr. Surber’s post, I’ve been captivated by the story of the professor from Israel:

I came across this story about another hero; a lecturer visiting from Israel who gave his life so that his students could escape. He also happened to be a Holocaust survivor (and yesterday marked Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel).

Also from the New York Post – they are carrying a Reuters’ piece: “A History of School Shootings.”

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