Someone my mother worked with, along with other Vietnam Vets, once barricaded themselves into the upraised Arm of the Statue of Liberty to protest their treatment. There were too few of them to properly cover all the exits, and they couldn’t lock all the doors, so they were happy that nobody really checked.
Of course, this was in those more easy-going pre-terrorism days of a couple of decades ago. Doing this today would probably cause you to get your head blown off.
Not so much cool, but I have always considered it awe inspiring that my grandpa survived the Bataan death march.
My other grandpa broke a rib diving for a flyball while playing softball in an under 30 league. Of course, he was 60 at the time.
My close friend just recently donated one of her kidneys to her mom.
Two things come to mind:
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In 1920, my Grandfather was one of the few young men who could read and write in his Jewish village near Odessa, Ukraine. When the Bolsheviks were impressing young men into the service, Grandpa Joe and another man were forced to prepare the papers for the men in his village. Because it was understood that Jews forced into the army would be treated inhumanely, he falsified papers so the young men in his village would be rejected for “medical” reasons. Apparently he was able to save a number of men before the deception was discovered. My grandfather was able to escape and eventually came to America, but the other man was killed. When my grandfather’s younger brother came to the U.S. in the 70’s, he told us that Grandpa is still held up as a hero back in the village.
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Without going into details, a relative was being abused by his mother. When he was 12, as she was getting ready to hit him, he grabbed a kitchen knife and told her never to touch him again. She never did. I am still amazed at his ability to do that.
by the way:
- Cool idea for a thread - and great first entry, Sleestak
- Obviously, my entries are more…heroic, I guess, than cool, but I really admire the folks I mentioned for the actions they took, so that’s pretty cool, right?
- have to do it - Hi Opal!
- People have done some cool stuff, eh?
My Husband:
Was a lighthouse/lightship keeper.
Won the All Ireland in Boxing.
My Dad:
Was an active participant in clearing out the concentration camps during WWII.
Ran into a burning building to save a man who was unable to leave because he was bleeding to death.
Helped guard the Beatles at Soldier Field.
Was a police escort for Martin Luther King Jr.
And things too numerous to mention during his 32 years in the Chicago Police Dept.
I love you Daddy. Rest in Peace
WordMan,
Thanks. I just love that video.
Granuaile,
Your Dad sounds like he was a wonderful guy.
Everyone else,
Great stories. There are some that are cool yet I really wouldn’t want to do myself. (getting stabbed, driving through a hail of bullets and surviving the Bataan death march) But, damn, knowing people do these kind of things give me hope.
Slee
ummm, I resent the term “pedophile”, but I AM counting, check out my homepage
This elderly couple in my hometown adopted a baby that they found in a crashed spaceship. Mighty nice of them to do so.
My dad has (had? I’m not sure if it’s still in use) a stamp named after him in Russia. Actually–either Russia or the Ukraine, but I’m thinking it’s Russia.
It’s not a stamp like you put on a letter, but the type that stamps the cancellation on just that type of stamp. It says something like, “Ruffian’s Dad, Our Friend in the Space Program.”
Dad did a lot of international work with them–he represented his company and the U.S. on several trips, trading information about aerospace design, helping them with the Mir project, etc. 
My grandfather was an Air Force bomber pilot, and a commercial pilot for American Airlines. He has some interesting stories…
He was a B-29 pilot, and eventually a B-47 pilot in weather reconnaissance.
When he was based in England, he was sent in some missions around the Baltic countries…He won’t say a lot about some of those missions, though he mentioned that during one of them, a Russian fighter shot a missile at him :eek:-it missed.
I only found out a couple of years ago that B-47s were used in spy flights over Soviet-bloc countries in the 50s. Even in broad daylight. The Russians weren’t very happy when this happened, as you can expect.
I have a great uncle who was a fighter pilot at Midway (I think it was Midway…my memory is a little fuzzy), he and his plane were transferred to a land base after his carrier was sunk.
The last words anyone ever heard from him (Over the radio) were: “I’ve got two on my tail.”
And my Dad has had some interesting experiences in the Marine Corps (We was a jumpmaster before retiring) and the Police Department.
Once, in the Marines, as a prank, he and a few other guys managed to convince another Marine that his girlfriend was actually a transsexual, and that everyone else already knew, but were just trying to be polite about it.
When my Dad finally told him they were joking, the guy was so relieved, he was actually THANKING my Dad and the others…As a practical jokester, I can only hope I can come CLOSE to that gag, even for an instant.
He arrested one of the California gubernatorial candidates after she charged up on a stage during a debate between the Republican and Democratic candidates (She’s from one of the small radical liberal parties…She usually runs for office, and gets arresting during a protest, in every election. Gubernatorial, mayoral, and otherwise)
He was in riot gear holding back protesting students from the painters when the University of San Francisco decided to paint over the recently completed mural of Malcolm X on the campus (In case you’re wondering why, the artist who had painted the mural decided to add little Stars of David with dollar signs in them throughout the painting, without telling anyone. Nice, huh?)
And my Mom works at a vet clinic that treats Mickey Hart’s dog. In fact, back in the 70s, she apparently did a little partying with various Bay Area rock musicians.
Oh, and there’s a slight possibility that my other grandfather may be the Zodiac Killer, but that’s just a theory.
Ranchoth
My grandfather was an Air Force bomber pilot, and a commercial pilot for American Airlines. He has some interesting stories…
He was a B-29 pilot, and eventually a B-47 pilot in weather reconnaissance.
When he was based in England, he was sent in some missions around the Baltic countries…He won’t say a lot about some of those missions, though he mentioned that during one of them, a Russian fighter shot a missile at him :eek:-it missed.
I only found out a couple of years ago that B-47s were used in spy flights over Soviet-bloc countries in the 50s. Even in broad daylight. The Russians weren’t very happy when this happened, as you can expect.
I have a great uncle who was a fighter pilot at Midway (I think it was Midway…my memory is a little fuzzy), he and his plane were transferred to a land base after his carrier was sunk.
The last words anyone ever heard from him (Over the radio) were: “I’ve got two on my tail.”
And my Dad has had some interesting experiences in the Marine Corps (We was a jumpmaster before retiring) and the Police Department.
Once, in the Marines, as a prank, he and a few other guys managed to convince another Marine that his girlfriend was actually a transsexual, and that everyone else already knew, but were just trying to be polite about it.
When my Dad finally told him they were joking, the guy was so relieved, he was actually THANKING my Dad and the others…As a practical jokester, I can only hope I can come CLOSE to that gag, even for an instant.
He arrested one of the California gubernatorial candidates after she charged up on a stage during a debate between the Republican and Democratic candidates (She’s from one of the small radical liberal parties…She usually runs for office, and gets arresting during a protest, in every election. Gubernatorial, mayoral, and otherwise)
He was in riot gear holding back protesting students from the painters when the University of San Francisco decided to paint over the recently completed mural of Malcolm X on the campus (In case you’re wondering why, the artist who had painted the mural decided to add little Stars of David with dollar signs in them throughout the painting, without telling anyone. Nice, huh?)
And my Mom works at a vet clinic that treats Mickey Hart’s dog. In fact, back in the 70s, she apparently did a little partying with various Bay Area rock musicians.
Oh, and there’s a slight possibility that my other grandfather may be the Zodiac Killer, but that’s just a theory.
Ranchoth
Well, I guy I email on ocassion walked on the Moon.
Honest. But he’s not really a friend, just an acquaintance. A good friend of mine has an asteroid named after him. He studies them. He is trying to find asteroids that may exist in orbits inside of Mercury’s. He flies in an F-18 with a telescope to look for them. 
Another guy I know discovered the Universal expansion is accelerating. That’s kinda cool too.
My friends grandparents used to be friends with the Heinleins.
I’ve got a friend who was jumped by 3 guys outside of Circle K. They beat him, broke his jaw, and he never spilled his pepsi. 4 months later, at least one of the thugs was killed in a “random driveby”.
Two of my best friends met each other at a shoot-out, where one shot the other in the leg. Now they are set to marry into each other’s families.
I have odd friends.
Bart Ritner, a local radio personality for probably the past 30 years on WPTF, used to host a call-in show. He’d rarely talk about himself, he’d just bring up an issue to get the ball rolling and let people call up and rant.
One time a lady called and praised him for his role in stopping a prison riot some years ago. HUH? Apparently the prisoners asked for him to be their go-between while negotiating. Ritner would go into hostile territory, then come back out to relay the prisoners’ demands. This went on for several days, and he stuck with it all the way.
Ritner didn’t talk much about it. He just let the lady fill in all the details, then thanked her for calling. He never once tooted his own horn about it.
I went to Film school with the guy who did all of the special effects cinematography for The Matrix. He’s the only one on my floor that I know has made any mark in the industry. He’s a very cool guy with an unbounded imagination. I always enjoyed chatting with him.