Watching the horrors unfold in Japan, I’m struck today by the technicians at the Fukushima nuclear power plant who stayed behind.
As everyone else was evacuated, these 50 or so operators crawled around in white jumpsuits with oxygen tanks strapped to their backs, trying to stave off further reactor trouble. Radiation is a given at this point. They are enduring levels previously unheard of.
How brave these few, thrust into an impossible situation with no guarantee that they will make it out unscathed, much less alive.
In some small way, they remind me of pioneers of medical treatment, those first patients in clinical trials who risk so much with no assurance of a cure or even their lives.
Why do they do it?
The greater good.
Which is more than good enough for me.
To donate to the relief effort in Japan:
You can also donate by texting REDCROSS to 90999.
One, Wild & Precious 
They define what it means to be a hero.