Thanksgiving night for heroes

Honoring the Fallen
Dan Rooney pays tribute to servicemen and women by sending their families to college
Aug 25, 2008 - pg. 72
As Dan Rooney's flight landed at the Grand Rapids airport on a rainy June night in 2006, the pilot made an announcement: "The body of an American hero is onboard. As a sign of respect, please remain seated." For the next 30 minutes, Rooney watched as soldiers carried the flag-draped casket of Cpl. Brock Bucklin onto the tarmac, where his 4-year-old son waited in the arms of his grandmother. Rooney, an F-16 pilot and Iraq war veteran, wept quietly, thinking of his wife and two daughters back home. "What if that were Jacqy and the girls," he thought. "I had to do something." In that brief moment, Rooney's life changed.
The Oklahoma Air National Guardsman and golf pro decided to provide college scholarships for the kids and spouses of service people killed or disabled in the line of duty. Enlisting the support of the PGA, Rooney, 35, launched Patriot Golf Day last Labor Day and raised $1 million by asking golfers at 3,400 courses to kick in an extra dollar in greens fees. Since then, through his nonprofit Folds of Honor Foundation (go to www.foldsofhonor.org for info on this year's Patriot Golf Day), he's handed out 200 scholarships. Though Ginger Gilbert Ravella received death benefits and is eligible for educational grants from the Veterans Administration for her five kids after her husband, Troy, died in Iraq, Gilbert Ravella thanks Rooney from the depths of her heart: "I don't know how I would have paid for them all."
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CNN Heroes list of the ten
Liz McCartney
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Liz McCartney is dedicated to helping Hurricane Katrina survivors in St. Bernard Parish, a community just outside New Orleans. Her nonprofit St. Bernard Project has rebuilt the homes of more than 120 families.

Viola Vaughn
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A group of failing schoolchildren in Kaolack, Senegal, once asked Viola Vaughn to help them pass their classes. Today, her "10,000 Girls" program is helping girls succeed in school and learn business skills.
Carolyn LeCroy
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After serving time in prison, Carolyn LeCroy started the Messages Project to help children stay connected with their incarcerated parents. She and volunteer camera crews have taped roughly 3,000 inmate messages.
Marie Da Silva
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Marie Da Silva has lost 14 family members to AIDS. Today, the Los Angeles nanny funds a school in her native Malawi -- where half a million children have been orphaned by the disease.
Maria Ruiz
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Several times a week, Maria Ruiz of El Paso, Texas, crosses the border into Juarez, Mexico, bringing food, clothing and toys for hundreds of impoverished children and their families.
David Puckett
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David Puckett started PIPO Missions to bring ongoing prosthetic and orthotic care to those in need. Since November 2000, he has helped more than 420 people in southeastern Mexico, free of charge.
Phymean Noun
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Growing up in Cambodia, Phymean Noun struggled to complete high school. Today, she offers hundreds of children who work in Phnom Penh's trash dump a way out through free schooling and job training.
Anne Mahlum
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Anne Mahlum used to run by homeless men each morning. Today, she's running with them, and others, as part of her "Back On My Feet" program in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Tad Agoglia
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Tad Agoglia started The First Response Team to provide immediate help to areas hit by natural disasters. Since May 2007, he and his crew have aided thousands of victims at 15 sites across the United States -- free of charge.
Yohannes Gebregeorgis, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Moved by the lack of children's books and literacy in his native Ethiopia, Gebregeorgis established Ethiopia Reads, bringing free public libraries and literacy programs to thousands of Ethiopian children.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/11/27/heroes.show/