Hero in Austin

Somewhere amid all the Olympic news came a report that a disgruntled man had flown a small engine plane into the IRS building in Austin, Texas. Fortunately, the suicidal man took only one life besides his own. Disasters of every kind, man-made like this one or naturally occurring, bring stories of heroism and kindness. This disaster at the IRS building is no different. FoxNEWS has a report of one of the heroes present that day: Robin Dehaven. Mr Dehaven is a glass glazer, who just happened to be driving by the IRS building when the small plane hit. Unlike a lot of people, he didn't keep going. He stopped. He saw a situation where he could help, and he took action. As he said, "I immediately drove my truck over there, got the ladder off, went up to the side of the building and I saw people up on the second floor with their heads out the window for air because the room was filled with smoke." Mr Dehaven extended his ladder up the side of the building to try to help people get out of the burning inferno, but the people inside couldn't secure the ladder properly. So he went up the ladder, into the building, helped the people inside to break another window, and secured the ladder the best he could. Even though the ladder "slipped a little bit," he helped five people to get down the ladder, buy going down with them and holding their backs "so they wouldn't fall if they slipped."

Now, in my book, Mr Dehaven is a real hero. He ran to help when help was needed. He didn't have to, but he did. Mr Dehaven's boss wasn't surprised at Mr Dehaven's actions; he thinks it was just a Mr Dehaven's character, to help others. Oh....did I say that Mr Dehaven spent six and a half years as a Combat Engineer in the Army? I'd bet dollars to donuts that Mr Dehaven's Army experience formed a large part of the character he demonstrated at the IRS building. He's a hero.