The Hellenic Navy (HN) (Greek: Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Greek Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy has its roots in the naval forces of various Aegean Islands, which fought in the Greek War of Independence. During the periods of monarchy (1833–1924 and 1936–1973) it was known as the Royal Navy (Βασιλικόν Ναυτικόν, Vasilikón Naftikón, abbreviated ΒΝ).The total displacement of all the navy's vessels is approximately 150,000 tons.The motto of the Hellenic Navy is "Μέγα το της Θαλάσσης Κράτος" from Thucydides' account of Pericles' oration on the eve of the Peloponnesian War. This has been roughly translated as "Great is the country that controls the sea". The Hellenic Navy's emblem consists of an anchor in front of a crossed Christian cross and trident, with the cross symbolizing Greek Orthodoxy, and the trident symbolizing Poseidon, the god of the sea in Greek mythology. Pericles' words are written across the top of the emblem. "The navy, as it represents a necessary weapon for Greece, should only be created for war and aim to victory."...............The Hellenic Merchant Marine refers to the Merchant Marine of Greece, engaged in commerce and transportation of goods and services universally. It consists of the merchant vessels owned by Greek civilians, flying either the Greek flag or a flag of convenience. Greece is a maritime nation by tradition, as shipping is arguably the oldest form of occupation of the Greeks and a key element of Greek economic activity since the ancient times. Nowadays, Greece has the largest merchant fleet in the world, which is the second largest contributor to the national economy after tourism and forms the backbone of world shipping. The Greek fleet flies a variety of flags, however some Greek shipowners gradually return to Greece following the changes to the legislative framework governing their operations and the improvement of infrastructure.Blogger Tips and Tricks
This is a bilingual blog in English and / or Greek and you can translate any post to any language by pressing on the appropriate flag....Note that there is provided below a scrolling text with the 30 recent posts...Αυτό είναι ένα δίγλωσσο blog στα Αγγλικά η/και στα Ελληνικά και μπορείτε να μεταφράσετε οποιοδήποτε ποστ σε οποιαδήποτε γλώσσα κάνοντας κλικ στη σχετική σημαία. Σημειωτέον ότι παρακάτω παρέχεται και ένα κινούμενο κείμενο με τα 30 πρόσφατα ποστς....This is a bilingual blog in English and / or Greek and you can translate any post to any language by pressing on the appropriate flag....Note that there is provided below a scrolling text with the 30 recent posts...Αυτό είναι ένα δίγλωσσο blog στα Αγγλικά η/και στα Ελληνικά και μπορείτε να μεταφράσετε οποιοδήποτε ποστ σε οποιαδήποτε γλώσσα κάνοντας κλικ στη σχετική σημαία. Σημειωτέον ότι παρακάτω παρέχεται και ένα κινούμενο κείμενο με τα 30 πρόσφατα ποστς.........

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Connecticut school shooting...[ 3018 ]

Connecticut school shooting: Heroes emerge in aftermath of tragedy

Published 1 hours, 17 minutes ago// The Star.com

ROBERT MACPHERSON/AFP/Getty Images Mary Ann Jacob, a library clerk at Sandy Hook, tells reporters how she calmed down 18 crying and confused fourth-graders squeezed into a storage room a lie for the sake of survival. "We told them it was a drill, so they knew what to do," she said. 
Laura Kane
Staff Reporter


Amid the horror of the Newtown elementary school massacre, stories of heroism are emerging.
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Victoria Soto, 27, teacher
The young teacher died trying to protect her Grade 1 students.
“In our eyes, she’s a hero,” her cousin Jim Wiltsie told ABC News. She reportedly hid students in a closet and cabinets before telling the gunman the children were in the gym.
“She was trying to shield, getting her children into a closet and protect them from harm. And by doing that put herself between the gunman and the children and that is when she was tragically shot and killed.”
Dawn Hochsprung, 47, principal, and Mary Sherlach, 56, psychologist
Hochsprung and Sherlach were in a meeting with school therapist Diane Day when they heard gunshots. The two women leapt out of their seats and ran toward the shooter, recalled Day.
“They didn’t think twice about confronting or seeing what was going on,” she said. Both were shot and killed as they lunged towards the gunman.
Hochsprung charged the gunman “in order to protect her students,” said superintendent Janet Robinson.
According to a friend of Sherlach’s husband, she had been preparing to retire at the end of the year.
Kaitlin Roig, 29, teacher
Kaitlin Roig, a Grade 4 teacher, protected her students by barricading them in the class bathroom.
She helped some climb onto the toilet so they could all fit and pushed a storage unit in front of the door.
“I don’t know if (the gunman) came in the room … I just told them we have to be absolutely quiet,” she told ABC News. “If they started crying, I would take their face and say it’s going to be OK. Show me your smile.”
Maryrose Kristopik, music teacher
Maryrose Kristopik, a music teacher for all grade levels, barricaded herself and 20 students in a closet. She used instruments like xylophones to block the door, according to a report in the Daily Mail.
“I told them that I loved them. I said there was a bad person in the school. I didn’t want to tell them anything past that,” she said.
The group said a prayer at the suggestion of a student and remained safely in the closet until exiting together a short time later. “I did what any other teacher would have done,” Kristopik said.
Abbey Clements, library clerk
The gunshots reverberating outside the library sounded as though the chairs set up for a school concert were falling over, recalled Clements. But a glance out the door revealed the horror unfolding.
“When I poked my head out the door and saw the custodian running to the front of the building I realized they were shots,” she told a reporter from The Independent. 
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She and two teachers grabbed two children from the hall and pulled them into the room. “We went into lockdown, which meant that I ran to get the keys and told the kids to sit in the place where we practised for emergencies.
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It turned out that locking the door — part of the lockdown procedure — had an inherent risk: the door could only be locked from the outside. For a “scary” moment she had to reopen the door and stick her hand back out to lock it.
With files from Star wire services

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