Shameful Treatment of a Local Hero

* I am sad and angry about “Hero’s Unwelcome” in the Valley Edition (Nov. 8). Mark Burdick, a homeless man who saved LAPD Officer Martin Guerrero’s life, has been banished from a Reseda gas station, near where a fatal accident occurred. Burdick cleaned car windows to make money there. He was doing honest work--not begging.

Acts of heroism are rare today. Burdick put aside his personal feelings and jumped to the rescue of another human being. A hero should be treated as a hero, but Burdick was banned because he was “loitering.” If not for him, Officer Guerrero would most likely have perished with the other victims.

Is there anything the LAPD can do for Mark Burdick, who saved a life and who, America has forgotten, served his country in Vietnam?

On Veterans Day, I honored Mark Burdick’s heroism during the war and on the night of the crash.

R. J. WOOD

Winnetka

* This letter is in regard to your story of Mark Burdick. An American, former Marine, veteran and now homeless gentleman. He saved a police officer from his burning car, saved the Mobil station from a possible explosion. He reached out and gave a helping hand. For this effort, he was told to leave the premises.

What does this really say about us as a society?

HELEN DI MENTE

North Hollywood