BLACKSBURG: Out of the nightmare of a mass murder at a US university, tales of courage and heroism have begun to emerge, such as the elderly professor who died while blocking the door to his classroom so his students could escape through a window.
The "professor who did not fear death" was one headline in USA Today as testimonials to those who died and stories of dramatic escapes were highlighted two days after the massacre of 32 students and professors at Virginia Tech.
The story of Liviu Librescu, 76, an Israeli Holocaust survivor who survived a Romanian concentration camp only to give his life saving others from a madman, spread rapidly across the campus in Blacksburg, Virginia.
"I was told he was very courageous," said one cadet in a Virginia Tech uniform who was waiting to perform the national anthem at a memorial service for the victims on Wednesday.
As soon as he heard the shots elsewhere in Norris Hall, the renowned aerospace engineering professor ran to the door and struggled to hold it closed while the students jumped out a window.
Librescu was apparently shot through the door by Cho Seung-Hui, 23, a disturbed South Korean student who charged into four classes on Monday slaying 30 strangers before turning the gun on himself.
"I just remember looking back and seeing him at the door," student Caroline Merrey, who was hospitalized after jumping out the window, told local paper the Roanoke Times.
"I don't think I would be here if it was not him."
A number of students have e-mailed Librescu's wife, Marlena, to describe his heroism, which is also being praised on a number of websites such as facebook.
Other students managed to protect themselves by barricading classroom doors, many of which did not have windows.
Student Kevin Sterne is also being hailed as a hero after he blocked Cho from reentering the classroom by holding the door shut, local media reported.
Sterne, an Eagle Scout, likely saved his own life by fashioning a tourniquet with an electrical wire he pulled out of the wall after one of the bullets ruptured an artery.
But for many, the shooting rampage was so sudden and unreal they did not realize what was happening until they felt a bullet pierce their skin.
"He shot the professor and then started to shoot at us. In the blink of an eye it turned into a nightmare," South Korean student Park Chang-Min said from his hospital bed.
"I didn't even feel the bullet hit me in the chest and arm."
Another student also didn't immediately realize he was hit. "He was very quick in reloading so it looked like he trained," said Derek O'Dell.
Dressed in black and armed with two semi-automatic pistols, Cho had coolly chained the front doors of the building together before he set out on his rampage.
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