COUNTRYMAN – Stories about life, in and out of Guyana, from a Guyanese perspectiveBy Dennis NicholsThere are a lot of things wrong with the world we live in, like the reality of evil which no one seems to quite understand, since the majority of us, humans, profess to be reasonably good people. There are some among us who take the expression of evil to unbelievable depths of inhumanity. And there are others, whose lives reflect acts of uncommon achievements, selflessness, courage and sacrifice over a lifetime, or in an instant. We call them heroes.Antoinette Tuff and Michael HillOver the centuries, the deeds of larger-than-life men and women have been sung and eulogized. Many of them were world leaders, politicians, philosophers, artists, scientists, inventors and religious figures. Some come readily to mind – Jesus Christ, Plato, Leonardo da Vinci,NCAA Football Jerseys, Michelangelo, Martin Luther, Alexander the Great, Einstein, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Nelson Mandela. (All of whom have however had their detractors) And there are thousands more.There are the homespun heroes who may never make the world news or popular marketplace, although some, like Wesley Autrey, Vicki Soto,NFL Jerseys Clearance, and recently Sailor Gutzler, received accolades worldwide for their heroics. But how many of us have heard of John Griffith, Witold Pilecki, Antoinette Tuff, Beatrice Mtetwaand Nick Vujicic?And we only know about people like Hubert N. Critchlow, Cheddi Jagan, Walter Rodney and contemporaries Frederick Kissoon and Simona Broomes because they are Guyanese.This week I will look briefly at two probably not-so-well-known ‘ordinary’ heroes from beyond these shores – John Griffith and Antoinette Tuff, and ask you, reader, how you may have responded to the circumstances/incidents that caused them to react with the kind of courage and selflessness that daunt lesser mortals. And maybe where we can find such persons in Guyana.John Griffith, an American, lived through the Great Depression of the United States. In 1937, he moved from his failed farm in Oklahoma with his wife and young son,Jerseys NFL China, and found work as a bridge operator on the Mississippi River. This meant that he controlled the movement of a great drawbridge that allowed boats to pass below when it was raised, and trains to cross the river when it was lowered. (Somewhat like the retractor span on the Demerara Harbour Bridge) His job and his family were his world.Dennis NicholsOne day he took his son, Greg, who was then eight, with him to work. The child was in awe as he watched his dad manipulate the lever that caused giant gear cogs below to turn and engage the cables that swung the bridge. At lunch time, John raised the bridge. Father and son went to eat their sandwiches and chat on an observation deck not far from the control room.Time, unnoticed, flew swiftly by. Suddenly the shriek of a train whistle, that of the Memphis Express with 400 people on board, sounded. With a rush of fear, John realized that he had a very short time to lower the bridge before the train came roaring across it. Telling his son to stay put, he practically ran from the deck to the control room. As he was about to pull the lever to lower the structure, his eyes swept the area below to ensure no boats were there. Then horror was added to fear.Greg, following his father, had slipped from the catwalk and fallen, and was wedged, bleeding,David Njoku Jersey, between the huge teeth of the gear cogs. John realized instantly that he had to make the most heart-wrenching decision of his life. He could rush below and save his child, or he could pull the lever to turn the cogs that would crush him, but lower the bridge and save 400 strangers. It was death for either the apple of his eye or the unsuspecting commuters. John covered his eyes with an arm and with the other, pulled the lever.John Griffith operated on this drawbridgeNewspapers reported that as the roar of the train drowned out the agonized cries of his son, John looked down at the carriages as it sped over the bridge. Through the windows he could see people sitting, reading newspapers, and eating, including a boy of about Greg’s age feasting on ice cream. John screamed at them, at their calmness, and their utter ignorance of what had just happened. The reports didn’t say what happened when he went home. Now you are John. What would you have done?Last week I wrote about thinking with your heart. On August 20, 2013, Antoinette Tuff did just that and much more. She is credited with saving the lives of students and teachers at the Ronald McNair Discovery Learning Centre in Georgia, USA, by showing compassion, and empathizing with a deranged man carrying an assault weapon and 500 rounds of ammunition. She also persuaded