New Heroic Comics #69

During the Korean War, Corporal Gordon M. Craig of the U.S. 1st Cavalry leads his squad on a dangerous mission near Kasan to neutralize an enemy machine gun nest. When Communist forces make their desperate final stand, a grenade threatens to kill everyone in the position—and Craig must make an impossible choice to protect his men. This true-life account from *New Heroic Comics* #69 honors the sacrifice of the twenty-one-year-old soldier from East Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

When 14-year-old Patricia Ann Dominick stays home sick from school in St. Louis, her quick eyes and quicker instincts spot a neighbor's toddler in mortal danger at a well. Without hesitation, she springs into action to prevent tragedy. This true-life tale honors a young woman whose presence of mind and courage earned her formal recognition for an act of genuine heroism.

When a raging fire engulfs his New Jersey home at 3:15 in the morning, 16-year-old James Stevens must think fast and act faster—rousing his family members from the smoke-filled darkness and guiding them to safety even as flames consume the upper floors. This true-life account follows a young man's clear-headed heroism as he moves through the inferno, determined to save everyone in the house before the fire department arrives.

When 10-year-old Leonard Sobecky of Johnstown, Pennsylvania sees his friend's dog Tippy slip into the swollen Conemaugh River, he knows he can't wait for help—he races along the riverwall to reach the steps before the current carries the boy too far downstream. A harrowing rescue unfolds as Leonard battles the swift waters to pull his playmate to safety, then applies what he's learned from his Boy Scout brother to revive the nearly drowned child. This true-life story captures one young man's quick thinking and courage in a moment when every second counted.

Robert Borelli, a newspaper truck driver in Parma, Ohio, spots a fire at a house during his early morning delivery route and springs into action, pounding on the door to wake the sleeping residents and help them escape. With the family safe, Borelli attempts to control the flames using a garden hose until firefighters arrive, then quietly returns to his rounds—leaving the grateful family to track down their rescuer through the newspaper itself.

When a young girl falls into a water-filled excavation near Greenfield, Wisconsin, Andrew Clark steps in with the life-saving techniques he learned as a Boy Scout—and puts his training to the test in a desperate race against time. This true-life drama shows how the lessons of scouting can mean the difference between tragedy and heroism when a child's life hangs in the balance.

On a freezing winter day in a Louisiana swamp, Mrs. Samuel F. Sharp hears desperate cries for help from her home in West Monroe and alerts neighbors and police. Samuel F. Sharp, a retired Air Force first lieutenant, races to the scene and launches an improvised rescue of two men struggling in the overturned boat, working quickly against the bitter cold to bring both victims to safety.

When 13-year-old Thomas Redmond and a friend took a shortcut across frozen Cazenovia Creek near Buffalo, the ice gave way beneath his companion's feet, plunging the boy into seven feet of icy water. With no time to call for help and his friend already paralyzed by the cold, Thomas faced an impossible choice—risk his own life on the dangerously thin ice or do nothing. This true story captures a young man's courage in the face of immediate danger, and the quiet heroism that earned him recognition from the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Master Sergeant Lawrence J. Fitzsimmons, a decorated veteran of World War II who served under General Eisenhower across Europe, is stationed in post-war Japan when a fire breaks out at an enlisted men's club. When a fellow soldier's cries ring out from the flames, the sergeant faces an impossible choice—and his men will remember his answer for the rest of their lives.

When three Rick brothers and a friend set out for a Memorial Day fishing trip at Loess Lake in Milwaukee, a boating accident forces Gerald Rick into an extraordinary test of strength and will—pushing a heavy, anchored boat toward shore while his brothers Donald and their friend struggle through exhausting waters. As all four men battle against impossible odds and the pull of fatigue, their determination to survive becomes its own kind of heroism, proving that sometimes the greatest courage comes not from comic-book adventures, but from ordinary people refusing to give up.

When a defective stove ignites an oil storage tank in her basement apartment, Mrs. Carl Ruth of Worcester, Massachusetts, must race against a spreading inferno to reach her one-year-old daughter and young son trapped inside. In a story of quick thinking and maternal courage, she battles both the flames and a locked door to bring her children to safety.

When a Pennsylvania flood cuts off an island home from the mainland, 15-year-old Margaret Emel finds herself alone with her younger siblings and facing rising waters that trap them all. Keeping her own panic in check, Margaret springs into action—moving the children to safety and making dangerous trips back to gather supplies—proving that a young woman's calm thinking and quick decisions can mean the difference between disaster and survival. This true-life account captures a real act of heroism born not from superpowers, but from steady nerves and a determination to protect those who depend on her.

Watchman Stanley Tarnowski springs into action when smoke begins pouring from an elderly woman's home in Sacramento, breaking through a locked door to search the smoke-filled house. Finding her overcome and unconscious, he carries her to safety just as the building becomes engulfed in flames. This true-life account celebrates an ordinary hero's split-second courage that meant the difference between life and death.