Va. Tech Hero Remembered In Israel

Professor, 76, Blocked Door So Students Could Escape Before Being Shot

(CBS)  Family and friends of a Virginia Tech professor gathered at a cemetery in Ra'nana, Israel on Friday to remember Liviu Librescu as a survivor, and bury him as a hero.

At 76-years-old, the engineering professor blocked the door to his classroom on Monday morning to allow students to escape out the window. Some of the last ones to make the jump looked back to see Librescu killed by bullets from the gun of Cho Seung-Hui.

Librescu, who lived in Israel for a while but was of Romanian descent, was a holocaust survivor.

At the funeral service Friday, his body lay wrapped in a traditional white Jewish funeral shroud, surrounded on one side by family, and on the other by media photographers.

Through tears, Librescu's widow Marlena said she has received many emails from Virginia Tech students saying their lives were saved by her husband, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger.

"I will never know what passed through your mind in the last moments, but I hope you take care of your family from where you are now," she said at the service.

Librescu's son, who stood at his mother's shoulder, came to the microphone and said, "I walked today with my head up, proud having such father. I'm just proud of you, father."

Joe Librescu told CBS News the day after the shooting, "I really felt a sense of pride, even thought I wasn't surprised at how he acted at this moment... His was definitely a fulfilled life."

April 16 - the day of the shooting - was already a solemn day on the calendar in Israel, where it was marked as Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Librescu's son says the family's grief is offset by accounts of how his father saved his students' lives.

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Click here for an interactive gallery of the victims.

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Private funeral ceremonies were held Thursday for two international students killed in the massacre. Egyptian Waleed Mohammed Shaalan and Partahi Mamora Halomoan Lumbantoruan, a civil engineering doctoral student from Indonesia, also will have funerals in their home countries.

As experts pored over Cho's twisted writings and his videotaped rant, parents and officials urged people to instead focus on the victims of the deadliest rampage by a lone gunman in modern U.S. history.

Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine declared Friday a day of mourning and called for a moment of silence at noon to honor the 32 victims in Monday's massacre at Virginia Tech. Churches around the country, from California to the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., have scheduled vigils and special prayer services.

"We want the world to know and celebrate our children's lives, and we believe that's the central element that brings hope in the midst of great tragedy," said Peter Read, whose 19-year-old daughter, Mary Karen, was killed. "These kids were the best that their generation has to offer."

[wdhardingky]

dorislacy posted the following:

"The university should be held legally responsible for failure to suspend this student"

then......

"The university is a school not a psychiatric hospital. They should not and cannot be responsible for mental health of their students."

then.....

"THE UNIVERSITY IS TOTALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR
FAILURE TO PROTECT OTHER STUDENTS, AND PUTTING THIS STUDENT'S WISHES, DESIRES, AND NEEDS AHEAD OF THE REST OF THE STUDENT BODY."

Make up your mind please.

By the way Doris, Mr Librescu's actions saved the lives of the other students in that classroom at the cost of his own. If that doesn't define a heroic action, I hope you are never placed in the same situation.

Then along comes nallanthi who posts that all this is a "simple a reflection of our present day culture"

No it's not. How many warning signs were ignored here in light of past events just like this. How many red flags have to go up before someone pays attention.

I spilled my rant on gun control after some nutcase earlier said if you supported it then you think like Hitler.

It's this kind of apathy and lack of common sense that nothing will be done and another incident just like this one is not far off. Has nothing to do with politics.

[nallanthi]

I can not believe that we bring politics, race and religion into the discussion whenever a tragic thing like this happens! What has happened here is simple a reflection of our present day culture, where we are used to seeing thousands of killings on our 24-hours TV channels and our children growing up with violent video games with NO respect for others and elders. This man who did this is a mentally sick man who happened to have the easy access to deadly weapons. Let us think about the families who are going through this terrible lose and pain. I believe that it is the time we start teaching our children the principles of non-violence that was preached by great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi.

[jfinster10]

processor2:

If Hitler believed gun control (we should shy away from anything he believed in), colleges should issue firearms every student and teacher who wants to have one. And require all students and teachers to wear full body armor.

[nallanthi]

I can not believe that we bring politics, race and religion into the discussion whenever a tragic thing like this happens! What has happened here is simple a reflection of our present day culture, where we are used to seeing thousands of killings on our 24-hours TV channels and our children growing up with violent video games with NO respect for others and elders. This man who did this is a mentally sick man who happened to have the easy access to deadly weapons. Let us think about the families who are going through this terrible lose and pain. I believe that it is the time we start teaching our children the principles of non-violence that was preached by great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi.

[wdhardingky]

It was a lack of sufficient gun control that allowed a young man who had been deemed by both mental health professionals and the courts to be mentally unstable to easily purchase the fireams used in the killings at VT.

The way the law reads now didn't even afford the people who lived with him in the dorms the opportunity to be notified of any danger they might be in.

I am not anti-gun. But reasonable restrictions can be put into place to help curb situations like this in the future. Can it stop it entirely, no. But that doesn't mean that we as a society have to make it easy and expedient for the sake of profit and some schoolboy interpretation of the Constitution. The document only gives you the "right to bear arms" but nowhere does it say that I HAVE to sell or give you a gun to you if I don't think you are worthy of that right.

The founding fathers who adopted the Constitution of the United States could not in their wildest dreams have foreseen the onslaught of senseless violence being brought on the world today. That definition you hang you (and the NRA) hang their hat on is open to interpretation as to the meaning. But until a group of senators or a president have enough courage to stand up and do something about easy access to firearms, this scene will repeat itself over and over again.

How many more Columbines, Paducahs, Virginia Techs is it going to take?

[kalatur2]

processor2, Hitler believed in and did lots of things. Probably some of the very same things you believe and do. So what?

[processor2]

Europe, has strict gun-control laws and because of them, suffered under the likes of Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini.

WHEREAS, in America, we have the right to bear arms, and we have been free ever since.

...

Peace to the families of those who were killed.

Of course, the ANTI-GUN NUTS will use this very tragic incident to promote their political viewpoint..

Message to the ANTI-GUN NUTS:

Hitler believed in gun control....where do you stand???

...

[wdhardingky]

This man is the definition of a true hero.

I wish CBS and the rest of the news media would spend more time reliving the lives of people like this who would inspire future generations instead of constantly dissecting Cho Seung-Hi.

It is disapointing that Mr Librescu has only been given passing references as a "holocaust survivor" or victim. He is not a victim. Here is a man who has lived through one of the most unimaginable horrors of the 20th century and then sacrificed himself in order to save others.

His story is not one I will forget.

William

[bluestardad]

beagodschild; exactly right good post! CBS NEWS QUIT PROMOTING THIS SHOOTER YOU B A S T A R D S!

[beagodschild]

How do the media justify promoting copy cat killings, because that's what going to happen. You are telling every mentally ill, & crazy person where and how Cho Seung-Hui purchase his gun. We want to hear more stories about the victims, heros, and their families. The next messacre will be the media's fault. Everyone knows his motive for killing those students, we know where he is from, we know what his life was like in high school, that he was shy, and a loner. Enough already, stop making him bigger in death then he was during his life.

[danillegungy]

First i must say that i am deeply sorry for the cost of the 32 students, i also pray for speedy recovery for the injured victims and hang in there for the other college students,friends and love ones.
that guy is a cold blooded monster, i should not be the one to decide his death because i am not god, but he should have been alive after the shooting so that officials could throw him into a Lions den.
my heart is aching with pain and tears in my eyes. He wrote that silly note about Benz and trust fund. Did his parents not thought him to be grateful for what he has.
may god contiue to bless the victims.

[ucellis]

I hope you're resting in peace now.. Im sorry for the loss..