AllMovie

Part of the Unexplained series from A&E, this video takes an intense look into the phenomenon of ordinary people making the extreme sacrifice. Most war movies depict the hero making the supreme sacrifice for his comrades, but what if the soldier actually survives? Interviewees include a Korean War veteran that threw himself on a grenade to save his troops and lived to talk about it, a woman that jumped into the turbulent rapids of Niagara to save a total stranger, and the Secret Service agent that took a bullet for President Reagan. Medical researchers give insight into this type of heroic behavior and debate the concept of genetic predisposition and the innate human extinct for survival.