Another Type of Hero
By Albert B. Kelly
Say the word “hero” and many thoughts come to mind. You
might think of our military personnel- the men and women in our armed forces
defending our way of life. You might also think of our first responders, the
men and women who rush into harm’s way whether behind a badge, in an ambulance,
or carrying fire hoses into buildings. Some might think of sports stars or
leaders in other fields who do large and extraordinary things. And depending on
where you’ve lived and what you’ve eaten, the word “hero” might get you
thinking about lunch- what we call a hoagie.
But recently, when I think of a hero, Brian Pineda, Corel
Jackson, Julius Walker, Tereese Bell, Kenny Arnold and Ray Martinez come to
mind. They are not famous and to my knowledge, they are not currently serving
in the military or as first responders, nor are they big-name athletes or
industry leaders. As far as I know, they are regular citizens living in the
Bridgeton community and while I know little about them, I do know that on one
recent day, October 30th, they were heroes.
Few know about them because what they did occurred on
Walnut St in the Milltown section of the community on a Monday morning about 10am-
not exactly prime time. Few know because for the most part, the biggest
headlines are reserved for crimes committed, jury verdicts, tragedies of one
sort or another with an occasional police raid thrown in for good measure. By
those lights, who could be blamed for thinking our days are filled with criminality
and bad luck?
But things are never quite that simple and the community,
any community really, is far more than the sum total of their juiciest headlines.
A community is its people in all their complexity, a mixture that includes acts
of desperation, a thousand daily routines, and moments of heroism. On the
street, we never know when those moments, at least the heroic ones, are going
to arise and we mostly just react to things, sometimes without thoughts of
self-preservation.
I suspect this was the case for Brian Pineda, Corel
Jackson, Julius Walker, Tereese Bell, Kenny Arnold and Ray Martinez that Monday
morning. Living in and around the Milltown neighborhood, they were each going
about their daily business, in their own way, when they became aware of the
smoke coming from the roof line of a house in the 100 block of Walnut St. They
knew that the occupant, along time resident, was elderly and quite possibly in
trouble.
These individuals responded and got involved…they cared.
But here’s the thing, unlike our armed forces and first responders whose heroism
stems from a carefully considered choice, informed by months of training and
years of experience, backed by laws and legislation, and nourished by their own
unique cultures; these men had no context for acting heroically, they just did
what needed to be done.
Banging on the door to get the occupant’s attention, they
ultimately forced their way into the home and found the elderly occupant in the
front of the house watching TV unaware that an exhaust fan malfunctioned at the
rear of the house. Had they not noticed, perhaps more importantly had they not responded,
it is likely that there would have been a fully involved house fire and at that
point, who knows how things end.
But it ended alright, one of them called the fire
department while the others simultaneously ushered the occupant to safety and
waited until firefighters came. To me at least, that was heroic because while
the fire was not a fully involved structure or even close to that level of
intensity, they didn’t know that when they went into the house.
The other thing I noted was the diversity. Those
responding were a mix of races and ethnicities. This may not seem like anything,
but when some dismiss diverse neighborhoods or even whole communities as “unsafe”,
sometimes the code language for race and ethnicity- it matters that our everyday
heroes came from all backgrounds.
It matters because here in the Milltown neighborhood, in Bridgeton,
where we’ve had our share of headlines and the negative perceptions that come
with those headlines- for one day at least- we also had heroes and that’s no
small thing, which is why we intend to recognize Brian Pineda, Corel Jackson,
Julius Walker, Tereese Bell, Kenny Arnold and Ray Martinez publically at an
upcoming City Council meeting.