Hero of the Week 22

Merry Christmas everyone!

This week's hero is...

James Harrison

James Harrison was a prison warden for Rikers Island. He is remembered by most people for being a pioneer of justice and for being one of the very first African-American prison wardens in American history. However one of his lesser know deeds, was what he did on February 1, 1957. On that date, Warden Harrison was forced to make one of the most difficult decisions in his life.

On the night of the first of February 1st, Northeast Airlines Flight 823 took off from LaGuardia Airport. The flight was bound for Miami and was carrying 101 passengers and crew members. Due to a violent snow storm that blew in just as the Flight 823 was leaving LaGuardia, the pilots lost control and the plane plummeted from the sky. It crashed into a patch of trees on Rikers Island. Most of the passengers and crew survived the crash but were trapped in the plane's wreckage with serious injuries. Their situation got even more critical when the wreckage caught fire minutes after crashing.

Warden Harrison saw the crash and immediately came out of the prison to rescue Flight 823's surviving passengers from the burning wreckage. However with only about two dozen guards on the island it became clear that he would need much more assistance if he wanted rescue the passengers. It was then that he made a decision that shocked many of his fellow prison guards. Harrison chose to release 57 inmates to help aid in the rescue. It was an unprecedented decision that almost seemed asinine. Yet, Harrison knew that the passengers of Flight 823 needed all the help that they could get. For the rest of the night, the inmates and guards of Rikers Island rescued as many people as they could from the wreckage of Flight 823. Although 20 people were killed in the crash, the inmates and guards saved a total of 81 people. During the rescue, none of the prisoners attempted to escape or committed any acts of violence. They continued to assist in the rescue until the last survivor was pulled to safety. After this, they all returned to their cells. 

Despite the tragic loss of life, the heroic actions of James Harrison, the guards, and prisoners of Rikers Island had prevented many more lives from being lost. In gratitude for their efforts, many of the 57 prisoners received sentence reductions or were released from prison. Officer Harrison was commended by the city for his decision. He received the police department's Medal of Honor for his participation in the rescue. 

Many times in life, people are faced with a difficult choice. One of the most common is the one that centers on a person putting there trust in an individual (or multiple individuals) who do not seem trustworthy. James Harrison was one of those people who was faced with that kind of difficult decision. And in the end, he made the right call. He chose to trust a number of convicts with doing the right thing and as a result, many people survived a terrible tragedy. I believe that he should be seen as an inspiration to many people around the world.

https://jrusoloward.com/2017/02/03/history-plane-crash-on-rikers-island/

http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/nycdoc/html/blackhst.html

https://nypost.com/2017/01/30/how-rikers-island-inmates-became-heroes-after-a-1957-plane-crash/

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/01/29/60-years-later-plane-crash-and-jail-prove-blessing-for-one-survivor.amp.html

http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/rikersaircrash/1957rikersaircrash.html

Hero of the Week 21

Welcome back viewers!

This week's hero is...

Roddie Edmonds

MSGT. Roddie Edmonds was born on August 21, 1919 in South Knoxville, Tennessee. He enlisted in 422nd Infantry Regiment during World War II and saw combat in the Normandy Invasion and the Liberation of France. During the Battle of the Bulge, Edmonds and much of his comrades were captured by the German army. Edmonds along with 1,000 other POW's were then taken to Stalag IXA (a POW camp) near Zieganhain, Germany. It was there that he would be tested in a way that he had never prepared for.

On the first day of arrival in the camp, the German SS in the camp camp and made a terrifying announcement. All of the American POWs who were Jewish to assemble in front of their barracks the following morning. In keeping with their hunt for Jews, the Nazis often tried to identify and separate them from the other Allied POWs. Since Edmonds was the highest ranking enlisted man in the camp, many prisoners turned to him for leadership. Although neither he nor the other prisoners knew about the Holocaust at the time, Edmonds was not willing to allow some of his comrades to be targeted due to their religion. He quickly came up with a plan.

The next morning, Sergeant Edmonds ordered all 1,275 prisoners (Jews included) to assemble in front of the barracks. The German SS arrived shortly after the prisoners had all lined up. The commander of the camp was among them. He immediately approached Edmonds and demanded that the latter command the Jewish men to step forward. Roddie Edmonds replied, "We are all Jews". The German commander grew furious and threatened to shoot Edmonds if he did not comply. Sergeant Edmonds quoted the Geneva code. He also reminded the commander that Germany was losing the war and he would be tried for war crimes if he killed Edmonds or any of the other prisoners. After being told this, the furious commander backed off and the SS left the camp. After this, Roddie Edmonds and his fellow POWs spent at least five more months in captivity until Germany's surrender in May 1945. Of the 1,275 American prisoners of war at Stalag IXA, it is estimated that at least 200 were Jewish. 

Roddie Edmonds returned home to Tennessee after World War II. After serving in the Korean War, he  retired from the military and raised a family. He died on August 8, 1985. He had never sought recognition for his heroism nor did he mentioned it to any of his family. It was not until 2009, that Roddie Edmonds finally received recognition for his heroism at Stalag IXA after his son (Rev. Chris Edmonds) got in contact with some of his father's fellow POWs. On February 10, 2015 Sergeant Roddie Edmonds was posthumously recognized as Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vasham. He is the first and only American soldier to receive such an honor.

Roddie Edmond's act of defiance was one of the bravest and least known acts of courage in the history of the American experience of World War II. Like many other brave soldiers, he was dedicated to protecting his comrades even at a risk of his own life. He stood face to face with some of the most evil people of the century and called their bluff. I believe that he is one of the bravest unsung heroes of World War II. He is definitely someone who deserves our admiration.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/28/world/middleeast/obama-honor-americans-effort-to-save-jews-the-holocaust.html

http://www.yadvashem.org/righteous/stories/edmonds.html

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/21/europe/us-pow-holocaust-hero/index.html

http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-honors-us-gi-who-told-the-nazis-we-are-all-jews/

Hero of the Week 20

Welcome back viewers!

This week we will honor a team of heroes

Allow me to introduce: the crew of Reeve Aleutian flight 8.

Reeve Aleutian flight 8 was an American domestic flight from Cold Bay, Alaska to Seattle, Washington. The plane itself, was a Lockheed L-188 Electra that carried 10 passengers and 5 crew members. The plane took off from Cold Bay Airport early in the morning on June 8, 1983. The men flying the plane were Captain James Gibson and First Officer Gary Lintner. Also onboard was Flight Engineer Gerald "Moose" Laurin along with two flight attendants (Wendy Croom and Victoria Fredenhagen).

Less than an hour into their flight, Gibson and Lintner began to feel strange vibrations in their controls. The vibrations continued to get worse as the aircraft climbed past 19,000 feet. The pilots eventually decided to turn the plane around and head back to Cold Bay. They then sent Engineer Laurin to take a look at the engines from the passenger cabin. He (along with one of the flight attendants) looked out one of the windows at the two on the plane's right wing. Almost immediately as they began to observe, the propeller from engine No. 4 broke off and flew spinning under the aircraft. Laurin (along with the rest of the passengers and crew) than heard and felt a loud bang that caused the aircraft's cabin to depressurize and its controls to jam. When it was clear, flight attendant Wendy Croom discovered that the propeller had torn an 8 foot long gash in the belly of the aircraft. 

 Laurin returned to the cockpit to help Captain Gibson and Officer Lintner regain control of the airplane. Flight attendant Wendy Croom came in minutes later and alerted the pilots to the 8 foot hole in the fuselage before returning to the passenger cabin to keep the passengers calm. As a result Captain Gibson quickly cut the speed of the plane to keep it from being ripped apart by the wind. After this, he, Lintner, and Laurin began to try and regain control. The first thing they did was turn the autopilot on. This allowed them regain some vertical control and descend to 10,000 feet in order to save their passengers (and themselves) from hypoxia. However, they still had no control over the plane's steering. After a few tense minutes, Gibson and Linter found that although the controls were jammed, they were not severed. Using their combined strength on the yoke, the pilots were able to pull the plane into a wide right bank that put them on a course back to Alaska.

The crew of Reeve Aleutian Flight 8 then got in contact with air traffic controllers who guided the airplane to a nearby airport. As they approached, the crew realized that due to the limited control the airplane was traveling too fast (200 knots) to make a safe landing. The runway at the airport was only 10,000 feet long and if the plane's speed didn't drop, it would overshoot the runway and crash. Gibson, Lintner, and Laurin were advised by ground control to shut down one of their remaining three engines in order to cut their speed. They did so and their speed dropped a bit. They then began their descent.

Their first attempt to land failed when they realized that even with two of their engines off, they were still going too fast. They quickly pulled the plane up and banked around the airport for a second landing attempt. Gibson made a risky decision in order to slow down the plane. He would begin his descent from 800 feet and then immediately shut off the two remaining engines upon touchdown. This meant shutting down the plane, relinquishing all control, and letting it coast to a stop on its own. It was an all or nothing gamble. With a news crew filming from the ground, Reeve Aleutian Flight 8 made its final descent. It touched down and the crew immediately shut down the engines. The airplane then hurdled down the runway at 140 knots. For a while it looked like disaster was brewing (one tire blew out and the brakes caught fire), until the aircraft began to slow down and finally stopped. 

Despite the rough landing, all 15 passengers and crew survived without any injury. For their brave and skillful landing that saved their passengers, the crew of Reeve Aleutian Flight 8 received the Superior Airmanship Award from the Airline Pilot's Association. Their heroism was acknowledged by President Ronald Reagan at a meeting in the White House. Captain James Gibson eventually retired from Reeve and professional flying. He died in 2010. An inquiry that was launched into the near disaster was unable to come up with any conclusion as to why the propeller on engine 4 broke off. To this day, the cause is still unknown.

Every day, millions of people board planes for the purpose of travel. By now it is so routine that many people have forgotten the amount of responsibility given to those who are responsible for their safety. The way I see it, the crew of Reeve Aleutian Flight 8 is a great example of of those who put their lives on the line to transport people by air. They encountered a severe problem that put themselves and their passengers in grave danger. And through a combination of skill and courage they worked the problem and managed to save their passengers and their aircraft. I believe that they should be regarded as some of the greatest heroes in history.

https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19830608-2

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1243&dat=19830610&id=w5FTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=A4cDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6652,1177269&hl=en

https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Reeve%20Aleutian%20Airways%20Flight%208