New Heroic Comics #95

When Explorer Scouts Bill Berry, Wally Hayes, Lyman Williams, and Joe White spot a horrific multi-vehicle collision on a New Mexico highway, their Scout training kicks into immediate action—coordinating first aid, managing the scene, and preventing further tragedy. This 1955 true-life account shows how their preparedness and quick thinking under pressure made the difference between life and death.

A Homewood mechanic named Harry A. Ryan witnesses a young boy slip beneath the surface of Hardy's Lake—but a passing freight train cuts him off from reaching the water in time. With muddy conditions and every second counting, Ryan must draw on his wartime training to attempt a desperate rescue before it's too late.

When a young boy's clothing catches fire in the kitchen, his 62-year-old grandmother—paralyzed and confined to her wheelchair—springs into action, calling him to her side and using a towel to smother the flames despite her own severe burns. This true story, based on the heroic actions of Mrs. Hannah Hall of Houston, Texas, shows how physical limitation proved no barrier to courage when a loved one needed help most.

In Phoenix, Arizona, a young girl falls into a swift irrigation ditch while playing and is swept into a culvert—prompting Hal Moore and a colleague to launch a desperate rescue into the narrow, rushing waterway. Racing against time and the current's deadly pull, they search the dark passage for any sign of the child, then fight to revive her once found. This true-life drama from 1955 captures the tense moments when quick thinking and courage meant the difference between tragedy and a second chance.

Truck driver Howard R. Dillon of Detroit pulls his cement-loaded rig to a sudden stop when he spots the driver of an oncoming lumber truck slumped unconscious at the wheel. With a runaway vehicle bearing down, Dillon springs into action—literally chasing the moving truck, leaping aboard, and throwing the hand brake to stop it before disaster strikes. A real-life brush with tragedy that proves quick thinking and nerve can mean the difference between life and death on the road.

Paul Weiss, a young school safety patrolman at P.S. #93 in the Bronx, faces a split-second crisis when a kindergartener breaks away from the group he's protecting and darts into the street. In a desperate moment, Paul acts to pull the child from the path of an oncoming fire engine, earning recognition from the American Automobile Association for his quick thinking and courage.

By the Grace of God, this 1955 story recounts the real-life heroism of W. Edward Hoffman of Salisbury, Maryland, who sprang into action when a fellow worker came into contact with a live electrical wire atop a steel structure. With the man's clothes ablaze and breathing stopped, Hoffman performed life-saving rescue work—beating out the flames and administering artificial respiration while dangling fifteen feet in the air—earning him the Edison Institute Medal. His quick thinking and selfless courage transformed a moment of danger into a testament to the power of human compassion.

On a summer day at Lake Michigan, eighteen-year-old Charles B. Hulsey hears cries for help and plunges into the water to rescue two young boys in distress. When he discovers the second boy trapped under a massive boulder, Chuck must fight both the relentless waves and the weight of the rocks themselves to free him before the cave-in claims another victim. A true story of quick thinking and courage under pressure.

When a vicious tornado bears down on a school bus full of children near Port Huron, Michigan, bus driver Thomas Rutkauske must keep his wits sharp and his nerve steady to protect his young passengers. As the twister repeatedly changes course toward them, he faces a harrowing series of split-second decisions that will test his courage and quick thinking. This true story captures one man's determination to shield those in his care from nature's fury.

Gerald Lee Pasket, a shy sophomore who learned to dog-paddle in a boys club back in Ohio, finds himself face-to-face with disaster when a nine-year-old boy capsizes in the Huron River—and Gerald must overcome his own fear to attempt a rescue. This true-life drama, honored with the Carnegie Hero Medal, captures a young man's moment of courage in the water.

Maxwell Wingham, a Philadelphia railroad track foreman, risks everything when a coworker stumbles directly into the path of an oncoming train in this 1955 true-life account of split-second heroism. With the locomotive bearing down, Wingham makes a desperate choice to shield the man from the wheels, holding him steady until the danger passes—an act of valor that doesn't go unrecognized by his company. A gripping reminder that true courage often comes down to one moment and one decision.