Category: Hero Stories

On Dec. 20, 2008, Lt. Col. Richard Lowe, a 12th Flying Training Wing instructor pilot and also a pilot for Continental Airlines was deadheading (aircrew who are flying on but not operating the aircraft) on CO Flight 1404 from Denver to Houston.

When the plane veered off the runway during takeoff and crashed, the cabin was engulfed in flames and fuel fumes. Amidst the ensuing chaos, Lowe, an experienced flight instructor with the 340th Reserves, remained composed. He worked alongside flight attendants to evacuate passengers, bravely re-entering the burning plane multiple times to ensure no one was left behind.

For his valor, Lt. Col. Lowe was awarded the Airman’s Medal – the highest non-combat honor bestowed by the Air Force. Despite his claim that he did nothing beyond what anyone else would do, his actions speak volumes of his character and leadership. Lowe’s willingness to risk his own life for the safety of the passengers highlights his exceptional bravery and dedication.

During the medal presentation, Maj. Gen. Frank Padilla, 10th Air Force commander, commended Col. Lowe on being, “an ordinary guy, doing an extraordinary deed.”

Louisville school bus driver Larry Farrish Jr. noticed a sad 1st grader on his morning route. 6-year-old Levi Carrier didn’t have pajamas for Pajama Day. As Farrish Jr. closed the bus doors, he watched as Levi slid into a seat away from his friends.

After Farrish Jr. finished up his morning routes, he headed to the store and purchased two pairs of PJs for Levi. “You were hurting this morning, you were crying, so I got you these pajamas,” Farrish Jr. recalls telling Levi. “He was so excited — you should’ve seen how his face lit up.”

“I can tell Mr. Larry is nice and his heart is filled with joy,” Levi said in a news release. “When he got me the pajamas, I did a happy cry.”.

Mr. Larry, as the kids call him, turned Levi’s whole day around. “No child should have to miss out on something as small as pajama day,” the bus driver said.

Levi isn’t the only Mr. Larry fan. “Larry is the absolute best and kiddos know they are in great, caring, capable hands with him!” one parent commented.

When a California assisted living home was unexpectedly shut down for numerous violations, sixteen elderly disabled residents were left behind with no place to go and no one to care for them.

Maurice Rowland and Miguel Alvarez, the center’s cook and janitor, chose to stay while other staffers walked away. They spent several days without pay caring for the residents until the fire department and sheriff took over.

The incident led to legislation in California known as the Residential Care for the Elderly Reform Act.

“My parents, when they were younger, they left me abandoned,” Alvarez said. “Knowing how they are going to feel, I didn’t want them to go through that. “If we left, they wouldn’t have nobody. “

Eugene Petrucci, mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service and retired U.S. Army Captain, was hailed a Hero by the Postmaster General after saving three dogs from a burning house.

Petrucci was on his rural mail route in the Furlong section of Buckingham Township when a neighbor rushed to his truck, saying a house was on fire.

He saw smoke was coming from the attached garage of the home, without thinking about it, he started pounding on the front door and windows but no one was home. By then, the smoke was turning to fire. The former paratrooper forced his shoulder onto the door and was able to open it as two dogs came barreling out, Petrucci spotted a third dog but it was too frightened and retreated further inside.

Remembering he had dog treats in his delivery truck, he attempt to lure the third dog out with them, but wasn’t successful. The garage was now engulfed in flames. Arriving shortly afterward, firefighters were able to rescue the black Labrador named Lola, and bring the fire under control.

Petrucci acknowledged that his military training paid a role in his actions, “I’m sure of it. Airborne school and being a paratrooper teach you to ignore your fears and do what you need to do. You don’t panic.”

In 2009, Brian Williams set a goal to see if he could collect 5,000 pairs of shoes to donate to kids in need and Global Acts of Kindness was born. He thought it was an unreachable goal but when the students got other schools involved, they were able to recruit churches, fitness gyms, and community organizations to contribute. When one young girl told him that it would be cool if they could actually see where these shoes go, Brian was inspired to think bigger. “Yeah, let’s do it! Let’s go to Africa.”

Since that time, Brian and his team have collected over 300,000 pairs of shoes and built orphanages, libraries, and computer labs. Recently they revamped an entire playground for students including a full basketball court and a full-sized soccer field with 360 seats.

As the founder of Think Kindness, Brian has traveled across the United States sparking the kindness movement with students through school visits. He challenges the students to see who can make the biggest difference in the world in under 15 days. He launches each campaign with a school wide motivational assembly to get the kids pumped up. Think Kindness follows up with what they call a Kindness Takeover – daily video messages, posters, and banners. Each school is challenged to document 5,000 random acts of kindness within that 15-day mark with the end goal of kindness seeping out of their school walls into their community. 

Brian believes that everyone should begin every day with one mission, “Today I will make the world a better place than it was yesterday.” With his organization Think Kindness, Brian is inspiring kids to be kindness ambassadors for change.

Susan Purvis saves lives and teaches others to do the same. As a wilderness first responder, she’s been to the hardest, coldest and highest places on the planet as an explorer, author, and educator. She didn’t know what she wanted to be when she was growing up but she knew she wanted to write a book and make a living outdoors. Back in the seventies and early eighties, there weren’t very many role models for women who wanted to work outdoors. While on ski patrol in Crested Butte, she joined the Search and Rescue Team. Determined to never leave anyone behind, she and her dog, Tasha, began a journey to find the lost and, ultimately, herself.

Susan raised Tasha as a free-spirited, independent canine with the freedom to make choices and not be restrained by a leash. Together, they rescued people buried in snow, lost in the woods, and nearly drowned in rivers.

As the founder of Crested Butte Outdoors, a wilderness medicine and avalanche education company, Susan specializes in winter mobility warfare training. She works with elite teams like Navy SEALs, FBI agents, and combat medics on how to move through the winter wilderness, build snow caves, and survive avalanches.

In her book, Go Find: My Journey To Find The Lost – And Myself, Susan explores the idea that not only can people get lost in the mountains, they can also get lost in a relationship or a career. As one of only about 800 women in the Explorers Club, her latest adventure will be retracing Darwin’s expedition.

After a deadly campfire in November 2018 destroyed the town of Paradise, California, Woody Faircloth and his 6-year old daughter, Luna, were inspired to make sure at least one family would have a place to call home on Thanksgiving. They purchased an RV off of Craigslist, pointed it in the direction of California, and started driving. They selected one of the 50 first responders who had lost their home as the recipient.

News of their kindness spread and EmergencyRV was founded as a non-profit organization offering those affected by natural disasters, support and transitional housing solutions. Over the past five years, it has evolved to help anyone affected by a natural disaster but prioritizes firefighters, first responders, and military veterans.

When the recent Maui fires destroyed over 2,200 homes, EmergencyRV once again sprung into action with the California Fire Foundation to get three RVs donated by local firefighters to Maui. “This work has fundamentally changed me,” says Woody. “One of the things that’s so powerful is if you do something kind for someone with no expectation of anything in return, I mean, the rewards are indescribable.”

With an original goal of delivering temporary shelter to one family, this dad and daughter team has now helped hundreds of disaster victims have a place to call home, expanding their mission and making lifelong friends along the way.

In June 2023, Clifford Parver, aged 91, was stranded in the Lochsa River after his car ran off the road. Using his personal rafting equipment, Forest Service Firefighter JT Sohr was able to rescue Parver before emergency crews arrived.

Sohr, a 21-year-veteran of the U.S. Forest Service had recently completed a course in swift-water rescue training to build a skill set for just such situations.

Raise a glass with us to honor JT Sohr and all the other brave Forest Service firefighters who save lives and protect our national forests and grasslands.

In a daring mountain rescue, Anthony Anglikowski: Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class exhibited extraordinary heroism.

On May 23, 2021, two “critically injured” hikers in The Brothers Mountains of Washington’s Olympic National Forest slipped on the icy terrain leading to one being trapped in a deep crevasse. Anglikowski’s medical training and mountain rescue expertise, as a member of the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island’s search and rescue team, were instrumental in navigating the dangerous rescue through a snowpack-fueled waterfall.

His actions saved the life of one hiker and facilitated the recovery of the other, earning him the Navy Marine Corps Medal, the highest non-combat award for heroism.

This story of bravery and professionalism underlines the courage and dedication of our military personnel, even in the most challenging of circumstances.

On a spring day in 2018, U.S. Army Captain Jacob Riffe and his son spotted a vehicle that suddenly darted across the highway and crashed. Without hesitation, CPT. Riffe rushed to the accident site. He found a small fire and two passengers – an elderly man and his caretaker trapped inside. Riffe quickly extracted both individuals amid increasing smoke and flames.

For this act of bravery, spurred by what Riffe described as “a calling” to help – He was awarded the Soldier’s Medal, the highest honor for non-combat heroism in the U.S. Army.

We salute you, Captain Riffe, by raising a glass to the heroism you showed which undoubtedly saved lives.