Two articles that tell stories worth reading:

These Soldiers Did the Boston Marathon Wearing 40-Pound Packs. Then They Helped Save Lives.

The soldiers you saw in the bomb-blast video tearing down the scaffolding to gain access to the victims? Yeah. They’d just run the marathon wearing fully loaded pack (“Tough Ruck”). Loaded, as it turns out, with water and first aid supplies.

And…

The Man in the Cowboy Hat: Meet Carlos Arredondo, a Hero of the Boston Bombings

Mr. Arredondo is the guy in the photo I posted yesterday wearing the cowboy hat. He has one convoluted story… originally an illegal immigrant from Costa Rica, one of his sons died in Iraq in 2004 (and his other son commited suicide in 2011). Mr. Arredondo was at the race to support a runner who had dedicated his race to his son, and is wearing a Tough Ruck shirt.

You can see both the soldiers and Mr. Arredondo in this video pulling scaffolding off victims (Arredondo at about the 2 minute mark:)

[youtube 046MuD1pYJg]

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As for the guy in the wheelchair: his family has gone public. His name is Jeff Bauman, he’s in stable condition, and there is a fund drive underway. Facebook  GoFundMe