While many have chosen to write about the shooter in the most recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida, I am choosing to share the heroic stories of three wonderful people who acted without regard for their own safety and ended up being heroes. I encourage you to learn their names and to share their stories, instead of prolonging the shooters’ 15 minutes.

The Football Coach

Football Coach Aaron Feis was known to be a friendly face in the halls of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and had close relationships with students who were on his football team this season and in past seasons. Coach Fries was 37 years old and was beloved by many in the school community. In a final act of selflessness Coach Feis died when he threw himself into the line of fire to protect a group of students from being shot. Coach Feis had returned to his alma mater to coach football and acted as a security guard at the school and was described by the school football program’s spokesperson, Denise Lehtio, as a kind soul.

From a CNN.com blog posting:

“He died the same way he lived — he put himself second,” Lehtio said. “He was a very kind soul, a very nice man. He died a hero.”

The Freshman JROTC Cadet

Peter Wang was a 15-year-old JROTC cadet who held open the door for his classmates as they fled the gunman’s bullets and ended up being killed as a result. His cousin, Lin Chen, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel newspaper that she was not at all surprised to hear that Wang had been seen aiding others escapes during the shooting and described him as brave.

“He is so brave. He is the person who is genuinely kind to everyone. He doesn’t care about popularity. He always liked to cheer people up. He is like the big brother everyone wished they had,’’ added Chen, who flew in from Louisiana to be with the family.”

Wang’s parents own a restaurant in Pompano Beach, FL and were planning on celebrating Chinese New Year on Thursday of this week. Past teachers of Wang’s got to know the family because their restaurant was across the street from his old school. A family friend who is a local real estate agent said that Wang had said that his dream was to grow up to attend West Point military academy and to be of service to the country. Because of the actions of a coward, Wang will never achieve that dream.

The Math Teacher

Math teacher Mrs. Shanthi Viswanathan, known to her students as Mrs. V, barricaded herself and her students inside her classroom to protect them during the massacre. The irrepressible Mrs. V even denied entry to the responding SWAT team since she feared that it could be a ploy by the shooter to gain entry to her classroom by subversion. She told the SWAT team that they would have to either open the door with a key or break the door down. They chose to enter the room via the window. According to the mother of one of her students, Mrs. V’s quick thinking probably saved many more children’s lives on that fateful day.

I can only hope that should I ever be in a place where an active shooter begins a rampage that I will act without regard to my own safety and am able to exhibit half of the courage that these amazing souls did on Wednesday of this week. Unfortunately only one of them lives on to tell the tale of what happened at that Florida high school, but we hope that Mrs. V is able to continue to inspire others with her shining example of selflessness and courage. For the others souls, I pray for them and ask that you join me in that effort. Their stories deserve to live on.