Postal heroes.

Letter carriers, due to the nature of their work, are often first on the scene of accidents, crimes and other crises. In 1974, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) initiated its annual Heroes of the Year Awards to honor letter carriers whose heroic actions help save the lives of others. This year's national and regional awards were presented to the recipients on September 15 during a special ceremony in Washington, D.C.

The 2004 National Hero of the Year is Kurt Spaller of St. Petersburg, Florida. On June 21, 2003, Spaller was midway through his route when he noticed some people pointing to smoke coming from a building in a condominium complex for senior citizens. Knowing from his daily mail deliveries which units were occupied, he rushed to the building and began pounding on doors to alert residents on the first floor. He then went up to the other two floors and helped several elderly persons descend the stairs to safety. Heat and flames from the five-alarm fire singed hair on his arms and legs, but did not deter him from continuing to render assistance until the building was evacuated.

Also during the September 15 ceremony, letter carriers from the Eastern, Central and Western regions of the country were honored for heroic acts. They were, respectively:

* Richard Fischer of Coral Springs, Florida, who helped rescue a baby trapped under a car after the vehicle crashed into the lobby of a Coral Springs post office. Fischer and others were able to lift the mangled vehicle high enough to allow the baby to be freed.

* David Bartaway of Trenton, Michigan, who risked his life by jumping into a truck operated by a driver who was high on drugs. Bartaway had to wrestle for control of the vehicle while fending off an attack by the driver, but was able to divert the truck away from a group of people who were attending a festival, and were directly in the truck's path.

* Victor Soto of Las Vegas, Nevada, who saved a boy from a pit bull attack. Hearing the boy's screams while delivering mail on his route, Soto ran to the youngster and forced the dog to back off. He then fended off the dog's numerous additional attempts to further maul the severely injured boy. He attended to the child until paramedics arrived, after which he resumed his route and completed the day's mail deliveries.