Civil Servants, Working for You: Hero Edition
Meet a few more of America’s finest teachers, fire fighters and police officers. This time, we’re profiling extraordinary civil servants who deserve to be called heroes.
Police Officer Robert Salerno was shot three times responding to a domestic dispute in the Bronx. His leg was paralyzed, but he didn’t quit. Seven months later, after grueling rehabilitation, he’s back on duty and on his way to becoming a detective.
Newton, MA, firefighter Nick McGrath was off-duty when he rescued a family of three from a three-alarm house fire. Without any protective equipment, he rushed into the burning building not once, but twice, to get all the residents out safely.
When a troubled student opened fire in the cafeteria at Pine Middle School in Nevada, wounding several students, gym teacher Jencie Fagan took action. Unarmed, she walked up to the shooter, convinced him to put the gun down, and held him until police arrived. ”I think anybody else would have done it,” Fagan said. “I look at the students as if they’re my own, and I’m sure the teachers at my daughter’s high school look at my daughter as if she’s their own.”
We can never repay these public servants for their extraordinary courage and commitment to their work. But their bravery should remind us, once again, why we are proud to be taxpayers.
