Hero Lenny Skutnik

A truly brave man of action is Lenny Skutnik, who was on his way home from his office job in the Congressional Budget Office in Washington when he stopped at the site of a plane that had just gone down in the icy Potomac River.

Air Florida Flight 90 went down in January 1982 just after takeoff, and people were bobbing about in the ice-clogged water. Some passengers and crew had been rescued by helicopter, but one, 22-year-old flight attendant Priscilla Tirado, was too numb to hold onto the line dropped by a rescue chopper.

Without regard for his own safety, Skutnik left the gaping crowd, removed his shoes and overcoa, and dived into the river after her, succeeding in bringing her back to shore.

As is the case with many real heroes, Skutnik downplayed his brave act, saying it was purely instinctive. And like most modest people who choose not to promote themselves, he has entirely disappeared from public view, receding into the privacy he apparently prefers.

A man like that should never have to buy his own drinks.