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Stories out of Virginia

Jill

I’m sure that in the coming days there will be many stories of people who took heroic actions during the Virginia Tech shooting. So far, this story stands out:

A 75-year-old Israeli professor and Holocaust survivor was killed in the massacre at Virginia Tech on Holocaust Memorial Day, Monday when he leaped between the gunner and his students.

According to eye witnesses the heroic action of Liviu Librescu, a lecturer in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, saved the lives of an unknown number of students in his class. Asael Arad, an Israeli Virginia Tech student told Army Radio that “all the students lived — because of him,” The Jerusalem Post reported.

Even in tragedy, and even in the face of the worst kind of evil, people are still self-sacrificing and people still do good. That restores my faith a little bit.

Thanks to Noam for the link.

23 thoughts on Stories out of Virginia

  2. Thank you for posting this. When I kept seeing headlines about a “love-crazed” killer, I thought, “Yeah, right, love. How about a male-entitlement-crazed killer?” But although that might be true, it feels wrong to connect the male victims of this murderer with that kind of mentality, no matter how inadvertently. Especially after reading about Dr. Librescu.

  3. What a great man. I wish I had a tiny fraction of his courage.

    From his name, he’s probably Romanian. Romania was an ally of Germany in World War II. I hope there are some Romanians of a certain age who read about what he did and feel just the slightest bit of guilt that, if it were up to their government at that time, he would have been slaughtered.

  4. The BBC has more details about the shooter than what I’ve read on other news sites.

    But details are gradually beginning to emerge about the 23-year-old South Korean, who was in the final year of an English degree at the university.

    His creative writing was apparently so disturbing that his teacher referred him to the university’s counselling service for help.

    Professor Carolyn Rude, chairwoman of the university’s English department, told the AP news service she did not personally know Cho but that the director of creative writing described him as “troubled”.

    He had been referred for counselling, but it was unclear if or when this had taken place and what the outcome had been.

    “There was some concern about him,” Ms Rude said.

    “Sometimes, in creative writing, people reveal things and you never know if it’s creative or if they’re describing things, if they’re imagining things or just how real it might be. But we’re all alert to not ignore things like this.”

  6. After reading yet more stories about this today, my current thought is, “Great, our demonization of mental illness pays off once again. Woot.”

  7. There is a lot of discussion to be had surrounding this event. I have read a few different blogs and they all come from different points of view, wishing to open discussion about different aspects. All of the ones that I have read do a great job, including Jill’s. I especially like that you chose to be positive in an effort to generate conversation about hope.

  8. As the son of a Jewish war refugee who would be just about Professor Librescu’s age, and as a teacher who loves his students deeply and hopes that he would have similar courage should I be placed in the same situation… shit, I am tearing up as I write this comment. The one small comfort in tragedies like this are the stories of ordinary people doing extraordinarily heroic things.

  9. Yes, this story made me cry.

    The heroism here, and the fact that it happened on Holocaust Remembrance Day . . . just phenomenal.

  10. This story perfectly illustrates the difference between men and boys.*

    Boys think some hurt feelings are an entitlement to kill. Men, on the other hand, are heroic.

    If only more human beings understood the difference.

    * – while I loathe to use the word for young males as a negative, I mean only to imply a lack of maturity, accountability and compassion. Not to imply that boys, as boys, are a negative.

  11. Prof. Librescu is listed as a coauthor on three papers scheduled to be presented next week at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference on Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials. I can only imagine the conference is going to turn into a collective mourning occasion for the aerospace research community.

  12. From the AP story on the shoooter:

    A government official, who spoke of condition of anonymity because he had not been authorized to discuss details of the case, said the note had been described to him as “anti-woman, anti-rich kid.”

  14. Men and women like this are what I aspire to be…yet, i confess to struggling to find that kind of courage. Absolutely amazing.

  17. His story made me cry when I read it earlier today.

    Here is more info about him (from CNN):

    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 the 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 the AP. He was born and received his advanced degrees in Romania.

    http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/17/vtech.shooting.victims/index.html

  18. Oh my God. Click the link on oudemia’s post (#13). It takes you to what purports to be two one-act plays written by the shooter.

    I just finished the first one. I’m not ready for the second one just now. Don’t know if I’ll ever be. Yeesh, that is some sick stuff.

    If those things are genuine, and not someone’s sick attempt to cash in on this tragedy, how long do you think it will be before some band of freaks decides to produce the plays? If Axl Rose could record a song by Charles Manson, I guess anything’s possible.

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  20. Since first hearing the Professor Librescu’s story on CNN, I’ve been trying to figure out how best to express the tremendous admiration I feel for the tremendous bravery and generosity of spirit with which he chose to meet his death. (Using any verb other than “chose” there would, quite frankly, denigrate his sacrifice.)

    But sometimes words just fail.

  21. I had a Romanian professor in my engineering department. I thought of him as soon as heard Librescu’s name. I know it’s just projection, but remembering him and knowing that he’d do something similar for me and his other students has made this strangely all the more personal.

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