By Angela Kaye Mason,
The focus of today’s show was “People Magazine’s Salute to Headline Making Heroes”. It opened with the story of Flight 1549, which was so miraculously landed safely by Capt. Chesley Sullenberger, within 208 seconds of distress, on January 15th. Within just minutes of the crash, 155 people were pulled to safety by first responders from the fire departments, police, boat captains, medics, etc. Several of these first responders stood on stage to a standing ovation from the audience. Chesley Sullenberger nodded with tears in his eyes. It was a very moving moment, as several audience members were meeting their saviors for the first time. As a matter of fact there were 8 people there who had not flown at all after the crash until the flight to get to this show, to thank the ones who had risked so much to save them. Vince Lombardi was the very first person to reach the scene, and within 3 minutes, 55 people were saved because of his actions. “My crew did all the work, I was just driving the boat,” He insisted. Richard Johnson, a Fire Department Capt said that the pictures do not tell the real story. In the photograph you see an airplane resting on top of the water with people standing on the wings, however, the plane was shifting and rocking, which made it extremely hard to get to where the people were waiting to be rescued.

The Oprah Winfrey Show promoted the books “Miracle on the Hudson” which is a documentary written by the 155 survivors, and “Highest Duty” written by Chesley Sullenberger. Joe Girardi of the New York Yankees, spoke of Capt Sullenberger throwing out the first pitch of the world series, and thanked each and every person who responded to the need that day. He then invited all of the first responders to the first game of the new season, and Oprah announced that each of them and a guest would receive V.I.P tickets to the first game of next season in the Yankee’s new stadium.

The next part of The Oprah Winfrey Show focused on “The Spartan Sparkles” of Pleasant Valley. This is a cheer-leading team for children ages 8-15, who were born with a range of disabilities ranging from autism to Down’s Syndrome. This team is lead by “The Two Sarahs”, namely Sarah Crunk and Sarah Herr, after volunteering for the Special Olympics. The experience left them wanting to do more to connect with these “special” girls, and so they went to their coach with the idea of “The Spartan Sparkles”. The girls’ parents were at first skeptical in the least, but now their teachers say these girls are blossoming, confident and that their report cards are showing the difference. Several parents thanked the two Sarah’s for their time and dedication to these girls. The team then came on stage to perform and they did an awesome job, well- synchronized. After practice, Miley Cyrus popped in for a surprise visit, and invited all of the girls to her show in Indianapolis. So “The Oprah Winfrey Show” announced that these girls were to be V.I.P. Guests at the concert. Not only did Miley hang out with the girls back stage, but they were also invited onstage to sing the last show of her performance “The Climb” with Miley. In my opinion the performance was breathtakingly beautiful, and very moving.

Next, The Oprah Winfrey Show wanted to thank postal workers who had shown outstanding character in going beyond their call of duty and rescuing people. A few of these were:

Alan Girard, who saw an apartment on fire while on his route. He rushed in and, along with 4 other postal workers, saved dozens of elderly people.

Melissa Kelley, who rescued a 76 year old man from a pit-bull by throwing her body between the man and the pit who was attacking him and spraying pepper spray.

Patty Arizmendez, who ran into traffic to save a toddler, and then went door to door to find his mother.

Robert Sweeney, who was on his route one day when a mother ran out with her baby in her arms, limp and unresponsive. Robert did CPR and saved the baby’s life.

And Walter Hayes, who ran into the road when a 6 year old was hit by a car, and threw his body over the boy to protect him until help arrived. Duncan Donuts is offering a free coffee to any postal worker tomorrow, November 25, 2009, in honor of these heroes.

Then “The Oprah Winfrey Show” went to Ft Bragg via satellite. In the last two weeks, over 3500 heroes have been welcomed home to Ft Bragg from the war. Camera’s were there to see several of these families re-united, some of them seeing their children for the first time. These families and troops were absolutely beautiful and I want to thank each of them for sharing this moment with us, as some may prefer to keep seeing a loved one after so long as a private time.

Wynona Judd then came out on stage in Ft Bragg and sang a military rendition of “America”. She did an awesome job while looking terrific and Oprah told her so. Many audience members sang along while crying. Over 500 FT Bragg soldiers and families joined the show. When asked why she chose to do this , Wynona answered, “Well, because the troops were here, so it was my duty to show up”. She also told these soldiers, “You’re the reason we can sleep at night, freedom ain’t free”.

While breaking for commercial, “The Oprah Winfrey Show” took a moment to honor the 13 fallen heroes at FT Hood.

There are more heroes listed in the current issue of People Magazine. Larry Hacket, managing editor of People said “These are just ordinary people, who transform like Super-heroes into savors.”

Tim McGraw, Alicia Keys, David Foster, Mary J Blige, Jennifer Hudson, and Sugarland, among a few others were then brought out on stage for a performance in honor of heroes, which the live audience got to see today, and will air on November 30, 2009.

For me , this episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” was very moving, I enjoyed it thoroughly, and am very glad I watched. I too would like to take a moment to thank God for our heroes.