Saving lives, Japanese firefighter gave his

[Bonobo]

OTSUCHI, Japan — When Fujio Koshita rang the bell at Otsuchi fire station to warn the fishing village of the imminent tsunami he undoubtedly saved countless lives -- but the bell also tolled for him. Residents of Otsuchi, in northeastern Japan near the quake epicentre, vividly recall the eerie sound and salute the fireman for his sacrifice, an action they see as in keeping with age-old Japanese notions of duty and honour. Koshita, 57, one of 28 members of the Second Otsuchi Fire Unit, rushed to his seaside station in the afternoon of March 11 after he felt the first massive jolt of the earthquake.

There, he found an electrical blackout had put the station's siren system out of action. Amid the frantic melee in the minutes after the magnitude-9.0 tremor struck, Toru Suzuki, a 41-year-old fellow firefighter, also reached the station, but the older man waved him off.

"You go. Don't worry about me," Koshita told Suzuki.

Koshita grabbed an old-fashioned bell, only kept in storage as a back-up for the siren, held it tight and climbed to the roof, where he started ringing it vigorously.
"It was really loud," said Kaito Yamasaki, a 16-year-old high school student, who heard it as he ran to safety. "The fireman was brave. I'm proud of him."
The sound echoed for several minutes across the village until the giant waves came crashing over the horizon, sweeping away the station, its watch tower, and Koshita himself.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gUD9Neuq-cUhdL-aLfPTU1XoZmug?docId=CNG.9291ab810e1449a3b4ece53bc3e09ca8.361
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Koshita's body has not been found.

On edit: Japanese "Shouboudan (firefighters) are unpaid volunteer firemen of which I am proud to be one.

[Dappleganger]

1. Very touching story, thanks for sharing.

No doubt there are many more heroes whose stories we may never know.

[Botany]

2. What a hero

A fire truck that was no doubt at the station where Mr. Fujio Koshita stayed and rang the alarm bell.

[Uben]

3. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few

Rich Americans cannot conceive this. It is only adhered to by the honest and the brave. Rich Americans believe sacrifice is something for the peasants, and not themselves. Do you think someone like Donald Chump would sacrifice his life for anyone else?
I honestly believe the man would watch his family burn to death before risking his own life. He's that much of a coward and a scumbag. Would the Kochs sacrifice their life for the good of the nation? No, they are cowards, too. Some things cannot be bought. Honesty, bravery, integrity and honor are earned. No amount of money can buy them, and that's why the rich in America are cowardly scumbags.

[postulater]

4. I salute him for humanity.

[niyad]

5. k and r-thank you for sharing this.

[Generic Other]

6. shujinko

hero

[RC]

7. We can learn from Japan.

Contrast the actions of Japanese people and the tsunami with the way America acted with Katrina.

We all know where the problem lies, we need to correct it.