# A better man than me **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 10, 2008, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-better-man-than-me/476529 "2008-12-10T07:20:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-better-man-than-me/476529/41 "2008-12-11T12:34:31Z")
True forgiveness is hard, and the pilot _was_ responsible for Yoon’s family’s deaths even if it wasn’t the pilot’s _fault_. I’m not saying that Yoon is a hero in the sense that we should have parades and awards for him, but what he did and said was exemplary and the world would be a better place were more people so forgiving. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-better-man-than-me/476529/42 "2008-12-11T15:13:35Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > But North Island NAS is. He could have headed there instead of Miramar. From the timeline as I understand it, he was already on approach to Miramar when he started having problems with the aircraft. Has there been any further information on what actually happened? The reports I’d read sounded like an engine malfunction of some kind while he was descending into Miramar. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-better-man-than-me/476529/43 "2008-12-11T15:22:27Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > Nice post, **featherlou**. Reminds me of Amy Biehl’s parents, who befriended the young men who killed her in a township in South Africa. She was there working for social justice and was driving a black friend home when her car was stopped, and she was dragged out and stabbed and bludgeoned to death, for being white in that neighborhood. > > Her parents forgave the young men, went to great lengths to go and meet them, and I think petitioned to have them released from prison. > > Yowza. > > ETA- [Here’s the story](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Biehl). That’s a little too much forgiveness. Those men killed deliberately just because of the color of one’s skin. Forgive them if you must but petition for them to be released from prison so they can kill someone else? No. The family of the next victim may not be so forgiving of the men or the people who had them released. Forgiving people of crimes like this isn’t going to cure them. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-better-man-than-me/476529/44 "2008-12-11T16:25:23Z")
It is heartwarming to see that even during the most difficult time imaginable that Yoon still has the capacity and inclination to show such compassion for another. > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > On the bright side, the crash also took out his mother-in-law. 🆒 What’s so bright about it? Not all of us have access to an F-18. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-better-man-than-me/476529/45 "2008-12-11T16:31:59Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I wouldn’t blame the pilot unless I had some reason to believe he was at fault. That wouldn’t make sense. I don’t see simply not behaving irrationally as particularly virtuous. It’s a bell curve thing, Dio. \*\*Dong Yun Yoon \*\* is way over to the right edge of the “grown-up” curve. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-better-man-than-me/476529/46 "2008-12-11T16:42:05Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > From the timeline as I understand it, he was already on approach to Miramar when he started having problems with the aircraft. He was out at sea doing carrier operations when one of his engines failed. Instead of trying to land on a carrier with one engine, he headed for the beach. He would have had to pass by North Island to get to Miramar. It was on final approach to Miramar that his remaining engine failed. If he had simply put the aircraft down on the first available airstrip four deaths have been avoided. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-better-man-than-me/476529/47 "2008-12-11T16:43:46Z")
Religious right wing pro-military patriots, meet the Atheist left wing pacifist tree-huggers (\*). None of you is going to agree on anything, but, oh! the hours of fun. \*If you don’t think that you entirely belong to one of these groups, you are doing it wrong. Pick a side. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-better-man-than-me/476529/48 "2008-12-11T16:58:38Z")
I imagine he’ll feel pretty stupid if the investigation reveals that the pilot was an incompetent boob who perhaps could have avoided the houses had he not ejected so quickly. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-better-man-than-me/476529/49 "2008-12-11T17:07:52Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > I imagine he’ll feel pretty stupid if the investigation reveals that the pilot was an incompetent boob who perhaps could have avoided the houses had he not ejected so quickly. Once the second engine failed, the hydraulics failed. Without hydraulics the aircraft is uncontrollable. Even so, witnesses indicated that the pilot stayed with the aircraft longer than was prudent. If there is blame to be assigned then it was in the choice of the neighborhood-locked Miramar instead of the surrounded-by-empty-water North Island airfield. ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-better-man-than-me/476529/50 "2008-12-11T20:06:24Z")
I agree that Mr. Yoon has an admirable amount of forgiveness. I don’t know if it rises to the level of heroic though. I mean, it’s not as if he’s suing an all-you-can-eat seafood restaurant. Let’s keep some perspective here, people. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-better-man-than-me/476529/51 "2008-12-11T20:08:00Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > That’s a little too much forgiveness. Those men killed deliberately just because of the color of one’s skin. Forgive them if you must but petition for them to be released from prison so they can kill someone else? No. The family of the next victim may not be so forgiving of the men or the people who had them released. Forgiving people of crimes like this isn’t going to cure them. Hey, I just posted it- doesn’t mean I agree with it. I would have to dig pretty damned deep to find that kind of compassion if somebody stabbed my kid in the head until he was dead, for no good reason. So deep, in fact, that I might never get there… ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-better-man-than-me/476529/52 "2008-12-12T02:25:28Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > It’s not often that I come up against a better man then me 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-better-man-than-me/476529/53 "2008-12-12T02:36:46Z")
Okay, I’m not a fighter jet pilot and never in my life have I ever come within 100 miles of being qualified to be one, so my prayers and support go to the young warrior who now must live with the knowledge that his ship crashed into a home and killed the very people he was training so hard to defend and protect. And my heart goes out entirely to the man who lost his family in that tragedy. Please note, the man’s English was “heavily accented.” When was the last time you sacrificed for your freedom? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-better-man-than-me/476529.md?page=2)