Posted on 04/17/2007 9:53:20 AM PDT by Doneel
Virginia Tech University Prof. Liviu Librescu, described as a family man who once did research for NASA, sacrificed his life to save his students in the shooting rampage yesterday.
"When he heard the gunfire, he blocked the entrance and got shot through the door," his daughter-in-law Ayala Schmulevich said.
"He realized he had to save the students," she said. "That was the kind of man he was."
The hero educator was beginning a class on solid mechanics when all hell broke loose on the second floor of Norris Hall.
First came the terrifying gunshots from a classroom next door.
"It wasn't like an automatic weapon, but it was a steady 'pow,' 'pow,' 'pow,' 'pow,'" student Richard Mallalieu, 23, told The Washington Post. "We didn't know what to do at first."
The students in the class dropped to the floor and started overturning desks to hide behind as about a dozen shots rang out, he said.
Then the gunfire started coming closer. Librescu, 77, fearlessly braced himself against the door, holding it shut against the gunman in the hall, while students darted to the windows of the second-floor classroom to escape the slaughter, survivors said.
Mallalieu and most of his classmates hung out of the windows and dropped about 10 feet to bushes and grass below - but Librescu stayed behind to hold off the crazed gunman.
Alec Calhoun, 20, said the last thing he saw before he jumped from the window was Librescu, blocking the door against the madman in the hallway.
He died trying to protect the students.
Librescu taught aerospace and ocean engineering but focused much of his time on research.
He leaves a wife and two sons. His family is planning to bury him in Israel.
Were this brave professoor been armed, the carnage would have ended immediately.
Another thread was asking where the “men” were during this atrocity. Well, here’s one.
God rest his soul and comfort his family.
I am afraid we will never learn; we will continue to sacrifice youth to our stupidity and reluctance to face issues.
The article said — “He died trying to protect the students.”
I guess he was Jewish. You would kind of expect that with a Jew. But, if it were a Muslim, well, just look at what they do in the P.A. areas (over in Israel). The PA gunmen hold the kids out in front of themselves as shields.
If this had been a Muslim professor, he would have grabbed a student and put that student in front of the door to hold it closed...
Regards,
Star Traveler
He was a Holocaust survivor.
an article was posted earlier asking, “Where were the men?” some of them, including this heroic professor, were blocking the doors with their bodies... one guy had already been shot and blocked the door when the killer tried to come back in...
“He was a Holocaust survivor.”
__________________________________
The Nobel Prizes are awarded by the Nobel Foundation of Sweden to men and women who have rendered the greatest service to humankind. Between 1901 and 2006, more than 750 Nobel Prizes were handed out. Of these, at least 158 are Jews.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
This guy needs to be at the head of a memorial for this horrible tragedy, maybe a monument to him, with the names of the victims underneath.
You said — “He was a Holocaust survivor.”
Hmmm..., survived the evils of Nazi Germany but not the evils of the culture of liberal, socialist, anti-God America. What an epitaph...
Regards,
Star Traveler
Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names can never hurt me.
With that in mind, the press was all over Imus last week as if he had committed the crime of the century because of his choice of words. His words did not alter or terminate lives.
Today we have a real crime. Yesterday, 32 lives were ended forever. Professor Liviu Librescu dedicated and sacrificed his life to and for our country. But no more. The students killed would shortly have been going forth into the world to make their contribution. Some would have made their great contribution by staying home and raising great children. Others would have made their great contribution by going out into the workforce to make America even better.
I dont know what else I can say. I am just sitting here shaking my head in disbelief about a phony tragedy last week and real, awful tragedy this week Words just fail me, but I think and hope you know what I am trying to convey.
This is what a hero looks like!
I read somewhere else that he was a holocaust survivor. Hardened by fire, I guess. May God bless him!
This man was not just a courageous soul, he performed his love and concern for others; didn’t just talk it; he walked it, clearly, all the days of his life. May his joy and peace in the Lord fulfilled. Shalom.
Liviu Librescu
Remember that name.
How about instead, the names of those in his class who were NOT victims?
Sadly, the only hero in all of this seems to be ONE,OLD JEW, a death-camp survivor, and IDF Veteran, who stood up against a killer...
The ADULT STUDENTS, neutered by years of Liberal Indoctrination, cowered in fear, and were slaughtered like lambs.....
Meanwhile, it seems the VT Administration is in massive CYA mode, first and foremost concernered with saving thier own jobs and tenure...
When did America get reduced to this?
I'm not sure from what has been said of Professor Librescu whether he was once in the clutches of the Nazis but somehow escaped, or simply managed somehow to get to a safe country during the war, or somehow managed to stay in Romania without being caught--I'm not familiar with the details of the Holocaust in Romania and with whether some Jews were able to hide in the country.
“When did America get reduced to this?”
I believe it got started during the M*A*S*H years.....
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