Posted on 06/10/2004 9:48:56 AM PDT by Force12
Gov. Ronald Reagan's heroic act remembered:
On Feb. 2, 1972, I lived at the epicenter of the Sylmar, Calif., earthquake. At the end of my block stood the Veterans hospital for World War I gas victims. The structure was composed of brick and mortar, and hundreds were trapped in the rubble.
As Gov. Ronald Reagan and his entourage walked over the pile of rubble, he heard the voices of entrapped men. Unable to get help, he removed his suit coat, dropped to his knees and started digging with his bare hands. Time and again his entourage tried to pull him from the hole he had been scooping out, but he would break away and return to his task.
After an hour, help finally arrived, and he returned to his helicopter. His hands looked like bloody stumps; his French cuffs were covered with blood and hanging from his elbows. Not one media person was in sight, and they continued to refer to "Bedtime for Bonzo."
I am a veteran of World War II and have never witnessed such heroism and caring for mankind.
On news of his death, I sit in my recliner, watching TV with tears running down my cheeks -- something I have not done in many years.
Ken Oliver, Olympia
ping
A great man.
WA ping
http://www.theiowachannel.com/politics/3392082/detail.html
Reagan Was Hero To Iowa Woman
Nursing Student Rescued From Mugger By Reagan
POSTED: 5:54 pm CDT June 7, 2004
UPDATED: 6:44 pm CDT June 7, 2004
DES MOINES, Iowa --Former President Ronald Reagan is known as the "Great Communicator," but one Iowa woman will always know him as her hero.
Melba King (pictured, pictured below right) was a 22-year-old nursing student in Des Moines in 1933. She was walking home one autumn night when a mugger came up behind her with a gun and demanded her money.
At that moment, Ronald Reagan -- who was a Des Moines radio sportscaster at the time -- came to her rescue. Reagan pointed a .45-caliber revolver at the robber from the window of his second-floor rented room.
"And he said, 'Leave her alone or I'll shoot you right between the shoulders,'" King told KCCI.
Reagan scared the man off and calmed King's nerves. Then, the future president said he would walk King home.
King didn't see Reagan again until 1984, when Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad heard her story and invited her to an Iowa caucus campaign event (pictured, above left).
After King and Reagan hugged on stage, Reagan laughed, and said to the crowd, "This is the first time I've had a chance to tell you the gun was empty. I didn't have any cartridges. If he hadn't run when I told him to, I was going to have to throw it at him."
King's rescue became a national news story. "The phone rang constantly," King said.
All the media attention caused Reagan and King to stay in touch. The two families exchanged cards on birthdays, holidays, and during times of sickness and grief.
The Reagans helped King when she lost her husband Harold in 1987, and now she will send Nancy Reagan a sympathy note.
What a great story.
Can't help but wondering what Handgun Control Inc. would say.
What a story. The liberals can try as they might to denigrate President Reagan, but they can't take away this man's memory of him.
Listen closely and you can hear their teeth grinding.
More like weeping, wailing and the gnashing of teeth.
This man wasn't about appearing good for the cameras or soundbites. His life is a testament to the fact that character is the sum of a great many little things one does that no one ever notices. That's also a testament to Reagan's faith.
idkfa's post on Melba King's story is evidence of the wake of blessings this man's caring left on so many people. Please -- if anyone has them -- post additional anecdotes and stories about Reagan's kindness and the people he touched along the way.
"One man's life touches so many others, when he's not there it leaves an awfully big hole." -- Clarence the Angel ("It's a Wonderful Life")
I love that story, but mostly because Reagan laughed and told the truth that he hadn't any bullets in the gun.
My gosh. I heard a story that freaked me out. When he was President, he read a letter from a woman who thanked him for his and Nancy anti-drug crusade. She told him that her son had been on drugs, but he was now drug free and saving money to go to school. PRESIDENT REAGAN (he was the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES) wrote her back and sent her a personal check for $200 to put towards his education. Could you imagine??? The woman couldn't believe the President of US would send her a check. She didn't think she'd be able to cash it, nobody would believe her. SHE WROTE HIM BACK. He arranged with his accountants to transfer $200 of his money into her account. She got to keep the check with his signature.
Another story. These need to be collected and published somewhere.
That's too cool. He was a man of such class.
BTTT
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