The hero professor from Virginia Tech was laid to rest at a service in Israel today.
Liviu died while saving the lives of his students at Norris Hall on Monday.
“On the day of remembrance, this Holocaust survivor gave his own life so others may live,” President Bush said on Thursday.
Present were a representative of the US embassy and an envoy of the Romanian president, who presented his widow and two sons the Star of Romania medal in recognition of his courage and contribution to science. He was also honored for bravery by President Bush and the college heads.
Allison Kaplan Sommer was also at the funeral and has a very moving account of Liviu’s funeral.
Marlena Librescu, the wife of Romanian-born Engineering Professor Liviu Librescu, who was killed in the Virginia Tech shootings reacts over his body during his funeral in Raanana, Israel, Friday, April 20, 2007. The Holocaust survivor was gunned down trying to save his students from the Virginia Tech shooting rampage and was buried in Israel Friday to the sobs of grieving family. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Jules Crittenden has the beautiful eulogy by Liviu’s son.
Newsday had this eyewitness account of the hero’s story:
Theresa Walsh was one of the last people to see Liviu Librescu alive.
“He looked horrified, almost as if he knew what was going to happen,” said the Virginia Tech senior math major, who had stepped into the hallway from a second-floor classroom across from his at Virginia Tech’s Norris Hall when she heard what turned out to be gunshots. “But he kept all the students behind him so they could get out.”
“He’s a frail man, 75 or 76 years old, who barricaded the door so his students could escape,” said Ishwar Puri, chairman of the Engineering Science and Mechanics department, where Librescu was a professor.
Walsh said she saw that a lone gunman, later identified as Seung-Hui Cho, had emerged from a classroom next to the one in which Librescu taught and was moving toward him. She said Librescu was peering into the hallway at that moment, keeping his body between the gunman and his students.
Walsh said her sudden appearance in the hallway seemed to distract the gunman, who turned toward her, raised a handgun and began firing.
She said she dove back into her classroom, just as a bullet slammed into the wall next to the door. She was uninjured.
She and her classmates then barricaded themselves in, pinning a table against the door and holding onto its legs while lying on their bellies.
“After he missed, he shot through the door twice, but missed because everyone was on their stomach,” said Walsh of Binghamton, N.Y. “Then he went on to the next room. You could hear shot after shot – bang, bang, bang, bang. You could hear people screaming. “
Librescu was hit at least five times and died on the classroom floor, according to Edgar Gluck, a Brooklyn rabbi who flew to Virginia to help with the ritual preparation of Librescu’s body for burial.
Marlena Libresco, wife of Israeli Holocaust survivor Liviu Libresco, mourns over his body during his funeral in the central Israeli town of Raananna April 20, 2007. (Reuters)
Relatives of Israeli Holocaust survivor professor Liviu Libresco comfort each-other during his funeral in the central Israeli town of Raanana on April 20, 2007. (Reuters)
Flowers are seen on the grave of Romanian born Engineering Professor Liviu Librescu, who was killed in the Virginia Tech shootings, following his funeral in Raanana, Israel, Friday, April 20, 2007. (AP)
Here again is the story on Liviu’s heroics…
Previously:
At Least 32 Dead in Virginia Campus Shooting!!!
Suspected Virginia Tech Shooter… Is NOT the Shooter!
Liviu Librescu: Holocaust Survivor & Virginia Tech Hero (Video)Virginia Tech Students React to Campus Massacre (Video)
The Virginia Tech Massacre Victims
The Virginia Tech Massacre Victims (Video)
Virginia Tech Student Clings to Life
Friday is Designated “Hokie Hope” Day
