Less than two years after tornadoes battered my home town, Gallatin, Tenn., narrowly missing our house, a wave of storms swept through Tennessee and again brought death and destruction to my neighbors. The twisters with their distinctive freight train roar passed farther from our house this time, as I watched TV and listened to weather radio from about midnight to 2 a.m today (Feb. 6).

They hit a community called Castalian Springs, named for a spring near Delphi in Greece. It's a pleasant little area, populous enough to have its own post office but still a rural stretch more crossroads than village. It also had a historic stagecoach inn, Wynnewood, that many folks have spent years restoring.

I should say they had their own post office - the tornado crushed it, along with numerous homes, and also heavily damaged Wynnewood. At least 7 people died in that area, and police shut down State Route 25 that connects Gallatin to Trousdale County to search for more victims. Like the visitors to that ancient, ambiguous Oracle at Delphi, the folks in that community are searching for answers amid the debris.

The storms then moved east, striking Trousdale County and its main town, Hartsville, and then Macon County and its principal town, Lafayette (we pronounce that La-FAY-ette.). Lightning apparently touched off a huge fire at a natural gas pumping station in Macon County - I heard the glow could be seen in Nashville. Nobody knows yet how many people died or were injured in these areas, although there were estimates of as many as 20.

I've been to and through those areas, often for a previous client of Hammock Publishing, Sumner Regional Medical Center. They're pretty and rural and inviting to folks who want to have big yards and safe places to raise kids; places that have been farmed in some cases for generations by the same families; small businesses such as lip-smacking meat-and-three restaurants. And, jarringly, the abandoned concrete carcass of a never-finished TVA nuclear power plant.

Having seen up close in April 2006 what tornadoes can do, I can tell you that pictures simply don't convey the extent of the damage. To stand in a neighborhood that once held apparently solid homes and be surrounded by piles of rubble - often higher than the roofs of those houses - makes one feel very vulnerable, and at a loss as to where to start. I grieve for my neighbors and share their feelings of loss.

As noted in my bio, I once edited a magazine for truckers and currently contribute freelance articles to some trucking magazines. Truckers daily perform a difficult and absolutely necessary job for low pay and even less public thanks - "truck driver" is a slur in many mouths.

So I always look forward to the annual Goodyear Highway Hero announcements, in which a handful of drivers are recognized for brave beyond the call of duty actions on behalf of their fellow motorists. I've met a number of the finalists in this - competition isn't the right word, since none of these people did what they did thinking "Gee, if I live through this, I might be nominated." Recognition program isn't a strong term, but fits better. A bigger bunch of "aw shucks" kinda people would be hard to find. They saw people in need and ran into the fire, down the embankment, across lanes of traffic, to help.

I should note that it's not uncommon for truckers to stop and help someone, then fade from the scene before anyone thinks to get their names. Some don't want the notoriety, others probably have orders from their litigation- and hijack-fearful employers NOT to stop and help (which is one reason why fewer truckers than in the past stop to help folks with flat tires).

This year's winners include one driver who died when his rig was run off the road and he swerved it to prevent hurting others - I wish there were a Phantom 309 award for drivers who do this.

In addition to the driver who died, one nominee plunged into a river to rescue an 82-year-old woman; another leaped into an icy pond to help pull a child and her father from a sinking car; and the fourth used his own body to shield a pregnant woman from her enraged boyfriend - who tried to run her down with his pickup truck, then targeted the trucker and another man who had stopped to help - killing the latter:

Rick Tower, of Yreka, Calif.; Richard Filiczkowski, of Bountiful, Utah; the late David Virgoe, of Innisfil, Ontario; and Ronnie Greene, of Regina, N.M., were named finalists today for trucking’s most prestigious award for heroism.

“Each year, we are amazed by truck drivers from the United States and Canada, who put their lives on the line to help others. On this 25th anniversary of the Goodyear Highway Hero program, we truly are in awe of these brave men and women who travel our highways,” said Steve McClellan, vice president for commercial tire systems for The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.

“This year, we are honoring one driver posthumously, and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family as well as those of the victims who lost their lives on North American roads and highways. Time and again, truck drivers have emerged as bona fide heroes. When motorists needed help, they’ve stopped and put themselves in harm’s way,” McClellan said.

For 2007, the finalists are:

Rick Tower, of Yreka, Calif., a driver for Earl Bryant Trucking, which is based in Happy Camp, Calif. Tower, 40, was heading home on Highway 96 near Horse Creek, Calif., on Sept. 19, 2007, when a westbound car left the roadway and landed in the swift Klamath River.

Tower said he jumped from his rig and yelled to a man who stopped behind him to call for help. He ran down to the river and saw that the car was moving downstream, so he had to act fast. He heard an 82-year-old woman screaming for help, and he jumped into the river and swam to the car.

Fighting a strong current, he struggled to open the car door and pull the woman out as the water rushed into her car. She went under a few times, but Tower was able to carry her as he swam. He was tiring quickly, but fortunately, the man who had stopped earlier was on shore and ready to help with a rope.

Both men made the woman comfortable as they waited for help to arrive. Fortunately, the woman only suffered a broken ankle and slight hypothermia. Tower said he was thankful everyone survived.

Richard Filiczkowski, of Bountiful, Utah, a driver for C.R. England Inc., based in West Valley City, Utah. Filiczkowski, 38, formerly of Zion, Ill., saved the life of an 8-year-old girl after her father inadvertently drove his car into a pond along Interstate 90, near Plankinton, S.D., on April 26, 2007.

Richard’s wife, Janet, was driving the rig when she saw the one-car accident. She yelled for her husband, who was resting in the sleeper compartment. Filiczkowski quickly dressed, grabbed his shoes and ran a quarter-mile to the scene. As he entered the frigid 8-foot-deep pond, he could hear the girl’s screams.

The girl’s father was unresponsive, and she unbuckled her seat belt and crawled into the back seat. Two other men joined Filiczkowski in the water, but the car doors were stuck. They somehow managed to open the rear hatch, and Filiczkowski carried the girl to his wife.

The car quickly sank in the dark water. The three men then worked to free the girl’s father, who was held in by a seat belt. One of the men found a pocketknife on shore and used it to cut part of the seat belt; Filiczkowski cut the remainder, but the man’s legs remained lodged under the steering column.

One rescuer freed one of the man’s legs, and Filiczkowski dislodged the other. After 10 minutes, the truck driver finally pulled the father from the car and swam to shore, but it was too late. The Worthington, Minn., physician had died.

Richard and Janet Filiczkowski attended Dr. Jeff Bern’s funeral at the request of his widow, and the two families remain in close contact.

David Virgoe, of Innisfil, Ontario, a driver for Wilburn Archer Trucking, based in Norwood, Ontario. Mr. Virgoe swerved his empty tanker truck to avoid three cars weaving in and out of traffic on Highway 400 near Bradford, Ontario, on June 18, 2007.

Mr. Virgoe, who was cut off by one the street-racing cars, had to drive his truck into the median guardrail, and then he made a split-second decision. Rather than allow his truck to slam into oncoming traffic across the median, he swerved to the right, crossed the highway and drove into a ditch along the right side of the road.

An air ambulance was called, but Mr. Virgoe, 48, died before he could be transported. In his quick selfless reaction, Mr. Virgoe was hailed as a hero by witnesses and Ontario police, who said his actions helped to save the lives of countless others.

Three men were arrested for dangerous driving resulting in death. Mr. Virgoe left wife Debbie, three children and five grandchildren.

Ronnie Greene, of Regina, N.M., a driver for A. Passmore & Sons, of Altus, Okla. Greene, 35, and fellow driver Brian Peterson were en route to Albuquerque on U.S. 84 near Espanola, N.M., on April 27, 2007, when they saw a pregnant woman attacked and run over by a pickup truck.

The woman’s boyfriend, who had beat her earlier at their home, reportedly tried to pull her into his truck before hitting her with the vehicle’s door and running over her legs and pelvis.

Greene, a former firefighter and paramedic, ran to the injured woman and helped her stand. The boyfriend wheeled around and tried to run over the woman and Greene, who pushed her between his truck and trailer, shielding her with his body. The enraged man tried three more times to run over Greene and the woman.

On the final attempt, the pickup truck struck a Medanales, N.M., engineer from Los Alamos National Laboratory, who also had left his vehicle to help the woman. When the pickup left the area, Greene placed the woman in his truck cab with Peterson, and then he went to help the fellow Good Samaritan, Michael Rutkowski, who died with the truck driver at his side.

Journalists from the trucking industry are now voting on the four finalists, who will be featured March 27 at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky. One driver will be named the 2007 Goodyear North America Highway Hero at the Truck Writers of North America annual banquet and receive a $10,000 U.S. Savings Bond, a plaque and a specially designed ring; the other finalists will receive a $5,000 U.S. Savings Bond and plaque.

For more on the program, go to http://www.goodyear.com/truck/news/hero.html.

My hat is humbly off to these drivers who prove that courage and compassion can be - and should be - everyday virtues.

In researching an article on calendars for an upcoming issue of American Spirit Magazine, I ran across a fun conundrum that's particularly apt right now: When was George Washington born?

According to the Washington family Bible at Mt. Vernon: “George Washington, son to Augustine and Mary his wife, was born ye 11th day of February 1731/32 …”. Astronomer Duncan Steel, author of In Marking Time; the Epic Quest to Invent the Perfect Calendar, says that Washington always celebrated his birthday on February 11, although our calendars (and history books) say it was February 22 … and both dates are correct, Steel says.

February 11 on the Julian calendar then still used in the American Colonies (and Great Britain) correlated with February 22 in countries using the Gregorian system. At the time of Washington’s birth, the Julian calendar pegged March 25 as New Year’s Day. So February 1731 was actually very late in the year, about six weeks before New Year’s Day on March 25, 1732. However, on the Gregorian calendar we use today, Washington’s birth occurred in early 1732. (The reference to “1731/32” is called “double dating" and was used to try to eliminate confusion.)

Somehow, I like the idea of starting the year around the approximate start of spring. It has always seemed odd that winter begins right before year-end and then carries over. It would also divide the year-end holidays so we could recover from one and better enjoy the next. As a friend of mine used to say, when I'm king, it'll get fixed.

On President's Day, Feb. 18, the Middle Tennessee chapters of the National Society Sons of the American Revolution asked me to address their 4th Annual General George Washington's Birthday Celebration. This came about thanks to my being an occasional contributor to American Spirit, which Hammock Inc. produces for the Daughters of the American Revolution. They left the topic open, so after casting about a bit, I decided to talk about the whiskey distillery built at Mt. Vernon in 1798 - which was the largest distillery in the country at that time.

The distillery burned down in 1814, and its foundations remained largely buried until Mount Vernon launched a major archaeological dig in 1999. Since then, the Distillery has been reconstructed on the site to demonstrate actual 18th century distilling processes - and occasionally make whiskey.

About 50 people attended the dinner - which included a color guard in RevWar era uniforms and tri-cornered hats. All were far more knowledgeable about genealogy and American history than I, and Washington's whiskey-making was not exactly news - heck, everyone made whiskey back then - it was safer to drink than most anything else besides beer or boiled beverages like tea and coffee. But they seemed to enjoy learning more about it, as I did. The speech, slightly revised, will be published in the May-June issue of American Spirit.

Two anecdotes from the evening:
First: I was around 8 or 9 the first time I visited Mount Vernon in the late 1950s. My Dad took a friend and me in our unairconditioned Studebaker, on a very muggy Northern Virginia summer day. There was a line, so Dad bought us Pepsis at a concession stand while we waited to get in. That was my first Pepsi, and I was amazed at how much better it tasted than Coca-Cola! And that, I’m ashamed to say, is all I remember about the visit.

Second: After my speech, one of the women came up and said her maiden name was Hudgins, although spelled Hudgings. She asked if I could recall any distant ancestors. I remembered my great-great-grandfather, Ransom Hudgins, who fought for the South in the Civil War. Turns out that's her great-great-grandpap also, and we are descended from one of his sons. Very small world indeed.