Tribute to John and Joel Rechlitz

America needs more heroes like brothers John and Joel Rechlitz of Milwaukee, WI who rescued a mother and her two children from a burning SUV turned on its side. The harrowing scene was captured on video and can be watched all over the internet. As I watched the video I felt my eyes tear up a little as I thought about the situation - the desperation of it - and I daydreamed about my own children, my own wife, my own SUV turned over on its side out in New Jersey, burning, while I sat here at my desk in New York City. Would there be another man, another husband, another father, to risk it all to save my family?

According to dictionary.com, the relevant definitions of a hero are:

1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities, or

2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal.

I think these definitions clearly describe the Rechlitz brothers. As a man, I can't help but imagine what I would have done in the same situation. Would I have had the courage, the mettle, to save that last child? They say that in situations like this, one can never know what he is capable of - or for that matter incapable of - until the situation presents itself. I would only hope that I would be such a man, like the Rechlitz men, capable of such heroism.

There is an intangible side to stories like this, something beyond the boundaries of the flames and smoke of that street yesterday, and beyond the finite group of people who witnessed the event. A story like this highlights the simple goodness that is inherent in us, if one allows it to show. It forces you to look inward and examine yourself, and it reminds you how precious your own family is to you. I like to think that there is a camaraderie among men, a secret pact, to look after each other. For the mother and her two children, the Rechlitz men saved their lives - that is the tangible effect of the event. What they did for the husband and father is something different - they "had his back" - something men generally understand, and this is the essence of what I mean when I refer to a "camaraderie of men."

I think we can all thank John and Joel Rechlitz for serving as such fine examples of what it means to be a hero - brave, selfless, capable, and good. If we lived like there was a hero in each of us, think of what we could be capable of, and what America could become.

Say a prayer for DJ, the rescued little boy, and pray that he has a speedy recovery.