When Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in an Arizona parking lot, it wasn’t the CEO of a corporation who immediately came to her aid. When the Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed by Timothy McVeigh, and when the World Trade Center was attacked by terrorists on September 11th, the first responders were not high-ranking government officials. They were not part of an elite group of highly trained professionals. They were what our lawmakers often refer to as ordinary Americans. Yet there is nothing ordinary about them.
On January 8, 2011, Daniel Hernandez said, "When I heard gunshots, my first instinct was to head toward the congresswoman to make sure that she was okay." He added, "Once I saw that she was down, and there were more than one victim, I went ahead and started doing the limited triage that I could with what I had…. It was probably not the best idea to run toward the gunshots," he told the Arizona Republic, "But people needed help."
The 20 year old Junior at Arizona University had only limited medical training, but is still being credited with saving Congresswoman Giffords life.
Six people were killed by Jared Loughner, 22, when he sprayed the Safeway parking lot with bullets at Congresswoman Giffords Saturday morning rally. Their names are: Judge John Roll, 63; Dorothy Morris, 76; Dorwin Stoddard, 76; Christina Greene, 9; Phyllis Scheck, 79; and Gabriel Zimmerman, 30. Sixteen others were wounded.
Over time, we sometimes forget the names of the victims and heroes of tragedies. But as it has been proven time and again, there is no such thing as an ordinary American.
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