Survived One Hell to Defend People from Another
Reading about the victims of yesterday. It is horrible - a complete and senseless waste - that these were all slain.
However, one name stands out to me. I didn't know him, but after reading, I wish I did. It is always a good thing to know a person of such sterling caliber.
(from the CNN obit page)
Liviu Librescu, 76, was a Holocaust survivor, who his son said, will be remembered as a hero. He "blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee," Joe Librescu told AP. "Students started opening windows and jumping out." The elder Librescu, a professor at Virginia Tech, was recognized internationally for his research in aeronautical engineering, the head of the Engineering Science and Mechanics Department at Virginia Tech told AP. He was born and received his advanced degrees in Romania.
To have survived the worst hell in modern memory, and with that in mind, still having the courage to sacrifice himself as a shield in a lesser hell, so that others might live. That's courage, above and beyond what many people could summon up, especially in this day and age when too many people are afraid or disdainful of the very strength we need to protect ourselves. Well, here was one man who spent a life demonstrating that strength, and died in a grand display of it. The world will be a lesser place, academically and otherwise, without him.
However, one name stands out to me. I didn't know him, but after reading, I wish I did. It is always a good thing to know a person of such sterling caliber.
(from the CNN obit page)
Liviu Librescu, 76, was a Holocaust survivor, who his son said, will be remembered as a hero. He "blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee," Joe Librescu told AP. "Students started opening windows and jumping out." The elder Librescu, a professor at Virginia Tech, was recognized internationally for his research in aeronautical engineering, the head of the Engineering Science and Mechanics Department at Virginia Tech told AP. He was born and received his advanced degrees in Romania.
To have survived the worst hell in modern memory, and with that in mind, still having the courage to sacrifice himself as a shield in a lesser hell, so that others might live. That's courage, above and beyond what many people could summon up, especially in this day and age when too many people are afraid or disdainful of the very strength we need to protect ourselves. Well, here was one man who spent a life demonstrating that strength, and died in a grand display of it. The world will be a lesser place, academically and otherwise, without him.