04-17-2007, 08:28
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#1
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Guerrilla
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 243
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Israeli Professor Killed Saving Students
Quote:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,266506,00.html
JERUSALEM — An Israeli lecturer who died in the massacre at a U.S. university saved the lives of several students by blocking the doorway of his classroom from the approaching gunman before he was fatally shot, his son said Tuesday.
Students of Liviu Librescu, 76, a holocaust survivor who was an engineering science and mathematics lecturer at Virginia Tech for 20 years, sent e-mails to his wife, Marlena, telling of how he blocked the gunman's way and saved their lives, said the son, Joe.
"My father blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee," Joe Librescu said in a telephone interview from his home outside of Tel Aviv. "Students started opening windows and jumping out."
Liviu Librescu, was respected in his field, his son said.
"His work was his life in a sense," Joe Librescu said. "That was a good place for him to practice his research."
The couple immigrated to Israel from Romania in 1978 and then moved to Virginia in 1985 for his sabbatical, but had stayed since then, said Joe Librescu, who himself studied at the school from 1989 to 1994.
In Romania, the academic community also was mourning Librescu's death.
"It is a great loss," said Ecaterina Andronescu, rector of the Polytechnic University in Bucharest, where Librescu graduated in mechanics and aviation construction in 1953. "We have immense consideration for the way he reacted and defended his students with his life."
He also received a Ph.D from the Bucharest-based Academy of Sciences in 1969, and received an honorary degree with the Polytechnic University in 2000.
At the Polytechnic University, his picture was put on a table and a candle was lit, and people lay flowers. "We remember him as a great specialist in aeronautics. He left behind hundreds of prestigious papers," said one of the professors, Nicolae Serban Tomescu.
Librescu, who specialized in composite structures and aeroelasticity, published extensively and received numerous awards for his work. He also received several NASA grants and also taught courses at the University "La Sapienza" of Rome, Italy, and at the Tel Aviv University in Israel.
In Monday's massacre, a gunman killed 32 people at the Virginia university before committing suicide. It was the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history.
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RIP, Professor Sheepdog.
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Sionnach is offline
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04-17-2007, 08:41
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#2
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Wherever my ruck finds itself
Posts: 2,972
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Blue Skies Professor.
Crip
__________________
"It's better to die on your feet than live on your knees."
"Its not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me" -Batman
"There are no obstacles, only opportunities for excellence."- NousDefionsDoc
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Surgicalcric is offline
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04-17-2007, 08:43
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#3
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Guerrilla Chief
Join Date: May 2006
Location: SW Virginia
Posts: 583
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Wow.
RIP Professor Librescu
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bandycpa is offline
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04-17-2007, 09:21
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#4
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Area Commander
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Delaware
Posts: 1,425
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Showing the way even unto death. A lesson I should hope each student who witnessed his heroism will carry with them forever.
In pace requiescat Professor Librescu.
__________________
You ask; What is our policy? I will say; “It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.” You ask; What is our aim? I can answer with one word: Victory—victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival.-Winston Churchill
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Goggles Pizano is offline
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04-17-2007, 09:41
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#5
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Area Commander
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Colorado
Posts: 1,205
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Reports that Ryan Clark, one of the deceased, was also slain while going to the aid of a student. Ryan was an RA in one of the dorms. Two heroes who placed others above self. Rest in deserved peace guardians.
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We should seek by all means in our power to avoid war, by analysing possible causes, by trying to remove them, by discussion in a spirit of collaboration and good will.
Neville Chamberlain
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CoLawman is offline
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04-17-2007, 10:38
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#6
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Occupied Pineland
Posts: 4,701
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It really is all about mindset. RIP Professor. Hopefully some of your students will take the lesson/example to heart. Peregrino
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Peregrino is offline
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04-17-2007, 10:51
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#7
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: In transit somewhere
Posts: 4,044
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Teaching principles by example to the end, a real mensch, a true hero. Kaddish Shalom., Professor. I hope the kids in the classroom keep this with them forever.
__________________
In the business of war, there is no invariable stategic advantage (shih) which can be relied upon at all times.
Sun-Tzu, "The Art of Warfare"
Hearing, I forget. Seeing, I remember. Writing (doing), I understand. Chinese Proverb
Too many people are looking for a magic bullet. As always, shot placement is the key. ~TR
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x SF med is offline
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04-17-2007, 10:53
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#8
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Area Commander
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: No. VA, USA
Posts: 1,095
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RIP, Professor.
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vsvo is offline
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04-17-2007, 11:32
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#9
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: LA
Posts: 1,653
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My guess is he made his decision in 1945....
__________________
Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimal food or water, in austere conditions, training day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon and he made his web gear. He doesn't worry about what workout to do - his ruck weighs what it weighs, his runs end when the enemy stops chasing him. This True Believer is not concerned about 'how hard it is;' he knows either he wins or dies. He doesn't go home at 17:00, he is home.
He knows only The Cause.
Still want to quit?
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NousDefionsDoc is offline
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04-17-2007, 11:43
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#10
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 20,929
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by NousDefionsDoc
My guess is he made his decision in 1945....
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I agree.
When I read the story it didn't surprise me that this great man acted the way he did.
Rest in Peace Professor Liviu Librescu you are a true hero.
TS
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"The Spartans do not ask how many are the enemy, but where they are."
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Team Sergeant is offline
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04-17-2007, 11:47
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#11
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Area Commander
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Midwest
Posts: 7,134
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I had read a couple of articles, with student comments, how a Prof was holding up against the door to allow them to get out through windows etc, and hoped beyong hope that he survived.
RIP Professor, prayers to your family.
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My Heroes wear camouflage.
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Gypsy is offline
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04-17-2007, 13:11
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#12
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Area Commander
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: OK. Thanking Our Brave Soldiers
Posts: 3,614
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Truly, a hero.
Rest In Peace Professor, a job well done.
Holly
Edit: To add, As a civilian attending public University, this whole drama has left me with a feeling of venurability Ive never felt before. I sure as hell don't want to be "hiding under my desk", b/c no one taught me what to do...
I think I will apply for a license, and purchase a handgun. We have a gun-range here that holds classes, so I guess it is time for me to shut up and sign up.
Holly
Last edited by echoes; 04-17-2007 at 15:11.
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echoes is offline
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04-17-2007, 13:40
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#13
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Guerrilla
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Raeford/Colorado
Posts: 134
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by NousDefionsDoc
My guess is he made his decision in 1945....
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That statement says it all...
RIP Professor
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Smoke and mirrors.....
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37F5V is offline
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04-17-2007, 14:43
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#14
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Area Commander
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Buckingham, Pa.
Posts: 1,746
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Rest in Peace. It is amazing that a man of his age chose to stand his ground and fight while much more able bodied men and women did nothing. Thank God for men like Professor Librescu.
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rubberneck is offline
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04-17-2007, 15:12
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#15
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Guerrilla
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 462
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A truly exceptional man. RIP.
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The strength of a nation is its knowledge. -Welsh Proverb
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