Where do we get such men?

This weekend, a hero showed himself.  The pilot of a blimp in Germany told his passengers to jump out of the craft as it crashed and burst into flames, while staying at his station so that they could get out safely.  He died in his aircraft after his passengers were safe and it became completely engulfed.

Imagine puttering around in your blimp, taking a reporter and two other people on a tour, and then realizing that you're not going to make it home that night.  How many of us would find a way to survive that didn't guarantee the safety of our passengers?  How few of us would find a way to keep our charges alive while minimizing our own chances of safety?

The word hero gets tossed around a lot nowadays.  I've been embarrassed when my nieces and nephews thanked me for being a hero on Memorial or Veteran's Day and have had to remind them that all I did was put on the uniform for a few years.  It's good that I can point at people like Mike Nerandzic as an example of a hero.