In 1943, a Japanese destroyer sank a young American naval lieutenant’s boat in the South Pacific. What followed was a tale of determination and courage, as the crew was saved by that lieutenant—who would one day become President.
Category Archives: A Matter of Life or Death
Helping Fellow Plane Crash Survivors Has Changed My Life
In 1985, George Lamson Jr. was the sole survivor of a plane crash. Read about the difficulties he experienced as a sole survivor, and watch videos in which four other sole survivors share their stories.
How Wilderness Survival Kits Work
For a hiker lost in the wilderness, packing the right supplies is a matter of life and death. Find out what’s most important to carry along to ensure survival and a safe return home.
10 Lucky Celebrities Who Escaped Disaster
You may be familiar with each of the 10 historic tragedies in this list, but chances are you don’t know that for each one, there’s a celebrity or public figure who narrowly avoided being part of it.
How It Works: Putting Humans in Suspended Animation
Though it may sound like science fiction, the use of “suspended animation” (emergency preservation and resuscitation) to help save human lives will begin in trial form in the very near future. Read the article and watch the short video that follows, in which Dr. Sam Tisherman answers frequently asked questions about the procedure.
Sherpas Take Steep Risks for Life-Changing Pay
For Sherpas working as professional guides on Mount Everest, a bad day at work can result in death. Though the Sherpa people have worked as mountain guides for over a hundred years, no one can deny how dangerous the job is, especially in light of the most recent accident on Everest which killed 10 Sherpas in a single day.
‘Life is beautiful’
Alice Herz-Sommer was the oldest known Holocaust survivor until her death at the age of 110. She was also much more: a talented pianist, a friend of famous literary figures, a subject of biographies and documentary films, and an unrelenting optimist.
Corrie ten Boom
During World War II, Corrie ten Boom and her family hid hundreds of Jews from the Nazis. After they were betrayed by a fellow Dutch citizen, the entire family was imprisoned. Corrie survived and later told her story in the book The Hiding Place. Read this article to find out more about this courageous woman.
Nevada Rescue: 5 Things Family Did Right to Survive
A family of six spent two days stranded in the freezing Nevada wilderness. Read this article to learn how they survived their ordeal.
Hemingway on War and Its Aftermath
Although best know for his fiction, Ernest Hemingway was also a war correspondent and a Red Cross ambulance driver. Read this article from the National Archives to find out how Hemingway’s wartime experiences influenced his writing.
Optimism May Be Hard-Wired into the Brain
Researchers have discovered that our brains are much better at remembering positive events than negative ones. How does optimism play a role in survival? Read this article to find out more.
Sunflowers Melt Fukushima’s Nuclear “Snow”
The March 2011 earthquake and tsunami severely damaged Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Read this article about how local residents are planting sunflowers not only to help absorb radiation leaked from the damaged reactors but also to bring hope to local residents.
Six Tornado Survivor Stories
What if you had just seconds to make a life or death decision? In May 2013, a massaive tornado devastated Moore, Oklahoma. Read the stories of six survivors and the decisions that saved their lives.
Goodbye to Berlin: Postcards from Nazi Germany Tell Story of the Kindertransport
In 1938, just before the start of World War II, nearly 10,000 predominantly Jewish children were sent, without their parents, from Nazi Germany and Europe to safety in Great Britain. The rescue mission was known as Kindertransport. Read this article to find out about one family’s heartbreaking story.
Teen Refugee: Prince Charming Is Dead
A 14-year-old refugee from Syria to Lebanon, Cayanne speaks candidly about what it felt like to have her childhood stolen by war. Read her story, and watch the video of her interview.