From Merrian-Webster Online Dictionary:

Main Entry: he•ro

1 […] c: a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities d: one that shows great courage
4: an object of extreme admiration and devotion : idol

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: Local heroes:

WILLIAM J. FRAWLEY
Former Mary Washington president

WHY YOU KNOW HIM: He was fired as president of the University of Mary Washington in April after two DUI arrests. He was on the job for 10 months.

WHAT’S NEW: Frawley, 56, was convicted of two separate driving-under-the-influence charges in September and had his driving privilege in Virginia suspended for a year. The charges arose from incidents on consecutive days in Fairfax County and Fredericksburg.

He managed to skirt his way out of the mandatory ten days in jail for the charge in Fairfax County too…

In December, Frawley acknowledged self-treating depression with alcohol, and he lashed out at the university’s board of visitors in an opinion piece he wrote for The Washington Post. He wrote that the board disregarded his illness, his accomplishments and his family’s needs.

Apparently, you disregarded your family’s needs as well…

He acknowledged he had consumed wine after taking an allergy medication the morning of April 10 when he wrecked in Fairfax. Separately, he told police in Fredericksburg that he had consumed six bottles of cough syrup when arrested in the city the next day, April 11.

I quote from the police report, there was a “strong odor of alcoholic beverage coming from his [Frawley’s] person and he was unsteady on his feet.”

Either way, it’s still a DUI.

In an e-mail to the Richmond Times-Dispatch in mid-December, he said he wrote of his account “for my own well-being and clear conscience, nothing else. At no time has my purpose been to elicit any kind of response — just to state the truth.” He thanked the university’s faculty, students, alumni and parents who have sent him notes of support.

Frawley, who said he is writing two books about his experiences, added, “I am moving on. I would suggest that others, including the press, show respect for themselves and others, and move on likewise. There is a point where mere rehash of the past has to stop and we all move to a new phase of lessons beyond incidents. We have reached that point.”

[…]

SARAH ANN HAISLIP
Underage drinking led to fatality

WHY YOU KNOW HER: She caused an early New Year’s Day wreck in Short Pump that killed a local bartender.

WHAT’S NEW: She’s serving a one-year sentence

Sarah Ann Haislip could have become a household name in the Richmond area last year for her soccer skills and academics.

Instead, the Deep Run High School student, just 16, became a one-person warning poster for the consequences of drinking and driving. Some Web sites even included images of her with beer in hand.

Haislip was westbound and driving alone just after midnight Jan. 1 when her car ran a red light and broadsided a vehicle driven by Wesley Hunter Taylor, a bartender at a nearby restaurant. Taylor had been drinking as well, but his condition was not considered a factor in the fatal collision.

He died in front of Short Pump Town Center. Haislip later was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and underage alcohol possession.

She is serving a one-year sentence, part of it in a juvenile-detention facility and the remainder in jail.

Haislip called her actions “childish and stupid,” and she apologized for not realizing the consequences of her acts.

Money raised in Taylor’s memory has gone to dig wells in Africa.

Since the Richmond Times-Dispatch is hard pressed to find heroes I decided to provide a few links:

Deputy Sheriff Jason E. Mooney of the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office, volunteer firefighter, and Marine – Killed in an automobile accident while responding to an accident on I-95.

Deputy Sheriff Jason Lee Saunders of the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office – Killed in an automobile accident while in pursuit of a suspected drunk driver.

First Lieutenant Benjamin Hall, an United States Army Ranger, and fifth generation soldier, was killed in action in Afghanistan. Originally from Woodbridge, his family lives in Fredericksburg.

Stryker, a police canine with the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), helped to search for survivors at The Pentagon after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He also had a 113 drug arrests (worth $159,923) to his credit. He was euthanized on July 30, 2007.

Marlo David McQuillar, whose information helped to put two cocaine dealers away for 10 and 15 years. He was killed in Fredericksburg on July 27, 2007. “He told a judge in October [of 2006] that he had seen the error of his ways and was looking forward to raising his son as a law-abiding citizen. ‘I refuse to let my son go down the same path of negativity that I went down,’ he said at the time.”

Farooq Anwar, originally from Pakistan, was killed while working at his store in Chesterfield. Both his children attend the University of Virginia. American Dream, anyone?

Chief Brad Thomas and Captain Eric Chenault of the Bowling Green Volunteer Fire Department, both of which were seriously burned while fighting a fire on February 18, 2007. They were forced to jump from the second story of a building to escape the flames.

This isn’t all-inclusive, so if I missed someone leave a comment.

H/t: the fred review