REAL HEROES

REAL HEROES care about people.
REAL HEROES stop bullying.
REAL HEROES work for peace. 


The Truth Behind the Stories
From The Hidden Kingdom
May Wray Walker: An Everyday Pioneer Hero

May Wray Walker was one of the first Mormon pioneers to settle in the Perry, Utah area. In 1853, when May was fifteen years old, a band of Shoshone Indians surrounded her wagon.

May was alone and frightened. She didn't know what to do, and she didn't know how to speak the Shoshone language. She finally decided to talk to them through hand signals. When she learned they were hungry, she gave them what little food she had.

Later, the same Indians brought her a freshly killed deer. It was their gift of thanks.

In future years, May and her husband learned to speak the Shoshone language. Together, they worked to create peace between the Indians and the pioneers. (Nelson, Lois J., History of Three Mile Creek 1853-1898 Perry 1898-1993, June 1993, pp. 3-4.)


From The Prisoner of the Shadows

Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa was a Roman Catholic nun. She lived to be 87 years old. Throughout her life, she ministered to the poor, the sick, the orphaned, and the dying. She also won the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. although Mother Teresa's work was known throughout the world, fame and awards meant nothing to her unless they helped her bless God's people. She believed all men, women, and children had worth. All deserved respect. And all needed to know they were loved and wanted by others. That kind of love, she said, was "the only answer to loneliness and great poverty." (Her People, Desmond Doig, Glasgow, William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1976.)


From The Mouth of the Dragon

Tadeusz Pankiewicz

Tadeusz Pankiewicz (Tah-DAY-oosh PAHN-kyeh-vich) was a Polish pharmacist who helped many Jews survive World War II. When the Nazi SS men took over Kraków, Poland, they forced all Jews to leave their homes and move to a small area they called the “Jewish Quarter.” To make room for them, all non-Jews who lived in the “Jewish Quarter,” including Mr. Pankiewicz, were ordered to leave.
Mr. Pankiewicz did not want to leave. His pharmacy was his work and his home. At first, he paid the soldiers to let him stay. Later, he convinced them he needed to stay. He stayed for two and a half years and became the only Polish, non-Jewish man to survive the quarter’s destruction in 1943.
During that time, Mr. Pankiewicz witnessed the horrible things that happened to those who were imprisoned inside the quarter. They did not have enough food, clothing, or housing. Soldiers abused them. Most were killed.
Mr. Pankiewicz tried to help the Jews. When he could, he gave them medicine, food, and information about the world outside of the quarter. Sometimes, like the black ink Dan describes in the story, Mr. Pankiewicz gave them hair dye to color their gray hair so the soldiers would think they were young and keep them alive. He also helped many escape.
No matter how dangerous things were for him, Mr. Pankiewicz welcomed the Jews into his pharmacy as his friends. He was a true Hero of the Highest Order. (Tadeusz Pankiewicz, The Cracow Ghetto Pharmacy, translated by Henry Tilles, 2nd Edition, reprinted 2000. Washington, D.C.: Holocaust Library).