The world stopped for America on September 11, 2001, the day of the worst terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil. It was also the day America showed its true colors. Firefighters, police officers, paramedics, and EMTs sped to the scene. Concerned more about others' safety than their own, they raced into the very buildings workers were fleeing from. Hundreds gave their lives so that others might live. Thousands of others put their lives at risk, day after day, working under dangerous conditions in the round-the-clock search for survivors. But the heroism sparked by the horrific events of that day does not stop there. It spans the country, indeed the globe, and Heroes tells the stories of the men, women, and children who stepped up to help. Most were ordinary citizens who saw what needed to be done and did it. Selfless concern for others links the fifty uplifting stories in these pages, stories of ordinary Americans who made heroic choices under the most terrifying circumstances and gave inspiration with their generosity and willingness to serve, stories that show definitively that the American spirit cannot be diminished but rather grows stronger and brighter in the face of adversity.