Michael Landsberry- Giving All
By Cleo Lampos
It is difficult to write about another shooting in a school. Unfortunately, in America, this type of tragedy has become far too common, but not less horrifying. Less than a year after the unspeakable events in Sandy Hook School in Newton, Conneticut, the sounds of gunfire invade the Middle School in Sparks, Nevada. Not urban areas, ghettos in a metropolitan setting, but Main Street, USA. Towns that should be safe.
Michael Landsberry was no stranger to guns. As a Marine with two tours in Afghanistan, he knew the power of weapons. That is why he chose to become a math teacher, to help the next generation grow up with values that would keep violence off the streets of the small town in which he taught. From every parent and student’s praise, Landsberry succeeded in reaching out to the junior high crowd. When danger stalked his students, this teacher put his own body between the assailant’s bullets and the students he felt responsible to defend. He gave his life. That is all he could do to keep those preteens safe.
In the last year, the teachers at Sandy Hook and the teachers in the Oklahoma tornado demonstrated that the best that this nation has to offer have become educators. Michael Landsberry reminds us that we cannot take life for granted. We have a short time to influence those around us for the good. He lived his life filled with love of his family, students and country. That is when actions speak louder than words.
Thank you, Michael Landsberry, for your sacrifice.
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