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In January of 2012, the Italian cruise ship, Costa Concordia, set sail on a seven-night cruise around the Mediterranean Sea. Onboard the vessel were 3,206 passengers and an additional 1,023 crew members, including Captain Francesco Schettino. The illustrious ship had been ferrying passengers around tropical paradises for seven years, so no one anticipated this journey would be any different.
However, on the 13th of January, while still on the first leg of its trip, the ship took a detour from her planned voyage to conduct a “sail-by salute” near the Isola del Giglio. Navigating just half-a-mile off the coast of the island at night, the ship struck a massive rock formation which ripped a 175-foot long gash into the port side. The ship’s electrical system failed, leaving the crew to manage emergency procedures in the dark while terrified passengers scrambled toward life boats. Sadly, 27 passengers and 5 crew members would lose their lives in the ensuing chaos.
If the accident itself wasn’t hectic enough, the way many of the men reacted to it added to the pandemonium. Multiple reports after the event spoke of grown men pushing aside women and stepping over children to get to safety. Several females lamented the hysteria of men racing around the doomed ship in an effort to save themselves. Male crewmembers were among the guilty, as was the captain, himself. He was immediately arrested by Italian authorities on charges of manslaughter for prematurely abandoning ship while passengers were still onboard.
Now, compare the selfish cowardice of those men to the acts of other men just a few months later in a movie theater in America.
On the night of July 20, 2012, throngs of people crowded into the Century Movie Theater to watch the final installment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises. A crazed gunman also entered the theater, set off multiple tear gas grenades, and then shot moviegoers as they tried to escape the panic he created.
A total of 12 people lost their lives with another 58 being injured by the blistering gunfire. Interestingly, many of the victims were men because of the way they handled the life-and-death situation: they acted sacrificially, throwing themselves on top of their loved ones or carrying out the wounded in an effort to save as many lives as possible.
For example, Jarrell Brooks, the son of a pastor, guided a mother and her children to safety while taking a bullet in the leg for his efforts. Todd Peckham and Justin Baker were finishing up a movie in a different theater when the tragedy erupted. Both men raced towards the screaming crowds and guided dozens of would-be victims to safety. Chris Lakota, a mixed martial artist and swordfighter, heard the gunfire and ran into the theater intending to kill the man he labeled a “coward” for shooting unarmed people. Instead, he was immediately confronted with victim after victim, so he quickly shifted priorities and carried many of the injured to safety.
Not all of the heroes would fair so well….
Jonathan Blunk, a 26-year-old veteran of the US Navy, shielded his girlfriend from the gunman’s fire at the cost of his life. 27-year-old Matt McQuinn also died shielding his girlfriend, Samantha Yowler. Alex Teves, 24, was killed while protecting his girlfriend, Amanda Lindgren.
While the men aboard the Concordia wouldn’t save their wives, the young men in the smokey theater laid down their lives for girlfriends. Each of them were universally praised by those who heard the story, and rightfully so.
Which kind of man are you?
