Chief Kevin Kelso, Officer Willie Ybarra, Mayor Betty Ann Matthis, Lieutenant James Boeck
Web definition of a hero:
a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength
SPD Officer Willie Ybarra received a Certification of Recognition yesterday evening for saving the life of a student at Saegert Sixth Grade Center.
This student was choking and unable to breathe. It was a dangerous and life-threatening situation. Officer Ybarra performed the Heimlich Maneuver and talked calmly and gently to the young student.
Officer Ybarra wouldn’t want to be called a hero. But he is. He was a hero before this incident – a man of character, courage, integrity and decency.
From KNGB in New Braunfels, Texas:
Officer Willie Ybarra was working as a security officer in the cafeteria on Tuesday when several students ran up to him, telling him that their friend was choking. Ybarra calmly assessed the situation, called in help from EMS, and then performed the Heimlich Maneuver, dislodging a piece of pickle from the girl’s throat. The girl was still having trouble breathing, so he used the Heimlich again, and even more pickle came out, and she was then able to breathe freely. The girl was treated at the scene by school nurses and EMS, but she was not transported to the hospital. Her father later picked her up from school, and called Ybarra a hero for acting so calmly and quickly.
AimlessMusings2010 
There is a much bigger hero than the Heimlich Maneuver performer: Henry J. Lee. Lee gave his life saving others and came from Socialist Republic of Vietnam, a Marxist-Leninist state.
We are fortunate to have such heroes amongst us. We are surrounded by heroes and others have come before – I dare say from the beginning of time.
God bless them for their heroism.
“Situations make heroes. No one is born a hero. No one can create one. A hero can be the guy next door who pulls his neighbor out of a burning building before the fire department gets there”-Thomas Driggers, a descendant of an African man, Emmanuel Rodriguez.
We are surrounded by heroes; they are just not always named. Thanks for your comment, V.E.G.