A holiday tradition is YNN’s presentation of Red Cross Real Hero stories. The 2011 Real Heroes were honored Wednesday morning at the Red Cross Real Hero Breakfast at the Oncenter. This is the story of the Military Real Heroes.

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Sunday, July 10th, Hancock Airport.

“I saw the lady come out of the restroom and then fall down,” explained Col. Timothy Lunderman.

Lorie and Rick Schneider also responded.

“We came in the doors and found her on the floor semi-conscious,” said Rick Schneider.

“She was down on the ground and people were all around her so I just got right down and kind of laid on the floor with her and made eye contact with her and let her know who I was and that we were there to help,” said Lorie Schneider.

Three heroes came together to help a stranger in distress, tending to her until paramedics arrive. As it turns out, it was a twist of fate for all of those involved.

“My son, Cpl. Kyle R. Schneider was killed in Afghanistan in combat on June 30th of this year… Very cherished member of our family and terribly missed,” said Rick Schneider.

Two days earlier, the Marine was honored at Baker High School in Baldwinsville. It was a ceremony attended by Col. Lunderman, where he briefly exchanged handshakes and a few comforting words.

“The magic of this story really is, as I am standing there looking at people, figuring out what to do, the first people that come to help me are people I recognized right away but didn’t quite know where I recognized them from. And then after the incident was over, realizing that these people just lost their son and then they are the ones out of how many people at the airport that morning helping me out. They are the heroes of the bunch,” said Col. Timothy Lunderman.

“It was automatic, even though we were a grieving family at the time, we put our concerns aside. It was just automatic. That’s what we do, we help people,” said Rick Schneider.

“We did not even think, there was somebody that needed help and there we were. And that’s Kyle’s life. If someone needed help, there was Kyle. Kyle was right there with us, he was an angel right there making sure everything was okay,” said Lorie Schneider.

“He was a hero, still is a hero, he is a hero in our eyes,” said Rick Schneider.

“Out of every trauma comes greatness and clearly the Schneider’s have gone through this significant life event… and they have shown their character and it gives reason why Kyle existed and why we in the military go do what we do every day, it’s to support people like that,” said Col. Timothy Lunderman.

Like father, like son, like mother, like comrade.

We celebrate four Military Real Heroes, three with us and one moved on. Each a shining example of what it truly means to be human.

“There are soldiers who serve selflessly without complaint, how can we do anything less for our fellow American and fellow citizens,” said Rick Schneider.