By Barbara Brown
For the Journal

Editor's note: In partnership with Leadership Anchorage, the Alaska Journal of Commerce will publish portions of conversations from Leadership Anchorage's on-stage conversations, held at the Z.J. Loussac Public Library. This year's theme is "Rising to the Occasion: Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things."

Several exemplary individuals have shared their personal experiences of rising to the occasion with Anchorage audiences. Had their lives prepared them for their courageous responses? Was it instinct, training or character? Or was it just a question of "Who else?"

On Sept. 5, Eagle River resident Keira Lestina told her story of pulling a mother and child from a burning motor home on the Seward Highway in 2003. She explored the "why" of taking action:

"At the time, I was pretty sure I was the very first car that stopped. There were people there pretty quickly. But they all gathered around in a crowd; no one came up to help until quite a few minutes after the accident happened. I don't know if I would have done the same thing if I'd already seen a crowd standing there and then run up. You assume that someone else has already taken care of it.

"I think a big part of my actions were that I thought I was the closest, I was there first. I therefore had to do something and not leave it up to somebody else," she said.

Tom Lee, whose conversation will air Sept. 12, was 14 years old when the Viet Cong killed his parents in Laos. He took charge of his seven younger siblings, leading them 150 miles out of Laos, across the Mekong River and into Thailand. Today, he is a board member for the Hmong International Human Rights Watch and Circulation Supervisor for Anchorage Municipal Libraries.

During their escape, the adults of his village often sent Tom ahead, making him check for mines. Mostly, he figured, they thought he was young, without kids. "You're an orphan, and maybe if you die, who cares?"

When they reached the Mekong River, the Viet Cong were shooting from directly above. Tom had purchased plastic garbage bags for his siblings. "We'd blow air into them, tie them off with a rubber band, and put them under our arms." Often, with people who didn't know how to swim, the plastic bag would flip them around and they'd end up upside down. Families would be roped together, bombs and grenades going off all the time.

A cousin of Tom's panicked; his family was all twisted in the bags. He grabbed hold, cried out, "You have to help me out or I die here." Tom's older brother, with his own family to worry about, helped his cousin. As a result, his rope was weighted down with 15 people. They were too heavy, couldn't get off shore, and half of them died.

On land, Tom said he was OK about separating from his family, going ahead and clearing mines. "I wasn't just helping one person or just the good of my family, but I'm helping the whole group. So I am happy to do that part." But on the river, Tom wouldn't do what his brother did. "It's like flipping a coin. Either you survive or you die. At that point, a matter of life and death point, I looked to my family."

What motivates someone to "rise to the occasion" and how is decision-making transformed at critical moments? Afterward, how do people evaluate why they did or didn't act? Listen in and you can wonder what you would have done.

On Sept. 5, KSKA FM 91.1 started airing the "Rising to the Occasion: Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things" series and will continue every Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. through Oct. 10. Programs can also be accessed at www.kska.org.