Wise Up (10-19-09)

Good Deeds

"¢ On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York City. Very few survivors were found after the towers fell. However, a former Marine named Dave Karnes and a Marine named Sgt. Thomas (his other name is not known) found two survivors buried in the rubble: Port Authority police officers Will Jimeno and Sgt. John McLoughlin. Mr. Karnes was an accountant working for Deloitte Touche in Wilton, Connecticut. When he heard about the attack on the World Trade Center, he got a military haircut, put on an old uniform, loaded his car with gear, and drove to the site. Police saw his uniform and his gear and waved him on to the site, where he met Sgt. Thomas and together they started searching the rubble.

Rescue workers had been ordered to stay away from the rubble because it was unstable and very dangerous, but the two men kept searching, yelling for survivors to cry out or to tap something to make noise. Finally, they heard a cry and they discovered two survivors. Sgt. Thomas looked for help, and Mr. Karnes called his wife on his cell phone, reasoning that she could call the New York City police and get help to dig the two survivors out. Soon, help arrived in the form of Chuck Sereika, a former paramedic with an expired license. Like Mr. Karnes, Mr. Sereika had put on his old uniform and come to the site. Scott Strauss and Paddy McGee, officers with the elite Emergency Service Unit of the NYPD, also quickly arrived. Digging Mr. Jimeno out of the rubble took three hours. Sgt. McLoughlin was buried deeper in the rubble, and digging him out took an additional six hours. Both men survived.

"¢ Late in her life, actress Audrey Hepburn did good work as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, traveling the world and helping those who most need help. In a remote region of the Sudan, she saw a desperately ill 14-year-old boy who had been diagnosed with anemia, edema and respiratory problems - these diseases were the effects of malnutrition. The diseases were familiar to Ms. Hepburn, who had been a child in Holland when the Nazis occupied it during World War II. At age 14, she had had the same three diseases that the boy had.

The winter of 1944 in Holland was known as the Winter of Hunger - she remembers eating tulip bulbs and grass to stay alive. Ms. Hepburn had intended to be a dancer, but malnutrition took muscular strength away from her. She remembers the UNICEF trucks coming with boxes of food and medicine. She says, "I was one of the thousands of hungry youngsters and not all that well through many years of malnutrition, and it was UNICEF that came in with food packages... I opened up a can of condensed milk and ate the lot."

"¢ Famous nightclub comic Joe E. Lewis went out of his way to help other comedians. When Alan King was a young comedian, he bombed - badly - at a small comedy club where he was booked to perform an early and a late show. He left quickly because he was sure the club manager was going to fire him before the late show. He happened to run into Mr. Lewis, who asked how it had gone. Mr. King explained that he was afraid to go back to the club. So Mr. Lewis called the club manager, introduced himself, and said, "I hear you're got my kid Alan King working for you... I'm coming over." Mr. King went back and performed the late-night show for Mr. Lewis, who brought a bunch of friends with him, and Mr. King says, "I got lucky - I got funny. I stayed in the joint for about four weeks. I always remember Joe E. He was a very kind guy." By the way, Mr. Lewis attended the wedding of fellow comedian Jack Carter. Mr. Lewis gambled - a lot - and when Mr. Carter said, "I do," Mr. Lewis said, "Damn, I just lost another bet."

"¢ At age 12, a girl named Ray Kaner entered Auschwitz. Five years later, her growth was stunted, she was very thin, and she looked like a very young child. The Nazis moved her to Hambieren, Germany, to do heavy labor. Fortunately, Willy Minke, a 60-year-old guard, took pity on her and smuggled food to her to keep her alive. He also was able to find her a different, easier job, working in the German officers' barracks. Ray survived the Holocaust, but she spent months in a hospital, separated from Mr. Minke. After finally recovering, she searched for Mr. Minke, and discovered that the Allies had arrested him after the defeat of the Nazis. Fortunately, he had helped many other Jews who had testified for him and had gotten him released. Until he died, Mr. Minke and Ms. Kaner were friends.

"¢ In early 2009, Chris Parker of Tiltonsville, Ohio, had to be out of town due to a death in the family. Unfortunately, while he was out of town, an outdoor water faucet at his home malfunctioned, sending water everywhere. Fortunately, Chris' mail carrier, Jennifer Borton, heard the sound of the water and called the post office to report the problem to Marsha Sines, who called the water department, who sent Jonathan Sgalla to go to Chris' house and shut the water off. Chris wrote in a letter to the editor of The Times Leader, "They deserve a pat on the back! Had they not responded to the problem, I could have had major water damage in my home. I am exceedingly grateful. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! How nice to live in a small town with caring people!"

"¢ In June of 1991, Bella Freund heard shouts of "Terrorist" in a shopping center in Jerusalem. An Arab had used a knife to stab a Jewish boy, and now a mob of angry Jews was attacking the Arab. Bella was an Orthodox Jew, but she threw herself on top of the Arab to protect him from the mob. Why did she protect him? Her parents were survivors of the Holocaust, and she said, "I protected someone because he was a human being."

"¢ "The man who tries to be good, loving, and kind finds life, righteousness, and honor." - Proverbs 21:21