Real Life/Heartwarming/Other

""Don't be afraid to be a fool. Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics. Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don't learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no. But saying yes begins things. Saying yes is how things grow. Saying yes leads to knowledge. 'Yes' is for young people. So for as long as you have the strength to, say yes.""
 * Whoever edited Charlie Chaplin's "Speech for Humanity" into this video... As cynical a human being as I can be, thanks.
 * Jackie Robinson's entry into baseball. Before you move this to the Sports section, realize that this watershed event has implications far beyond baseball or even sports. Now, it's clearly a CMoAwesome but why heartwarming you ask? Because even though Robinson put up with racist abuse that was extreme even by 1947 standards there are numerous examples that not all Humans Are Bastards. Some highlights...
 * Some of the Brooklyn Dodgers stated that they would not play with a black man. Team owner Branch Rickey and manager Leo Durocher both stated whoever didn't want to play with Robinson could "pack their shit and take a trade."
 * Jewish ballplayer Hank Greenberg, no stranger to racial abuse, actually gave Robinson a quick pep talk and basically told him to beat the bigots "on the field".
 * Robinson teammate Pee Wee Reese went out and put his arm around Robinson's shoulder during one home game when the abuse was nearly unbearable.
 * This moment was immortalized in a statue unveiled in 2005 in Brooklyn.
 * Phillies manager Ben Chapman specifically incited his team to chant "nigger" at Robinson during the games they played against the Dodgers and insinuated that their pitchers would aim for Robinson's head. The Dodgers as a team indirectly let it be known that any attack on Robinson, no matter how little, would be swiftly settled both on the field and off.
 * There was also the City of Montreal where Jackie played in 1946 as a member of the Dodgers' minor league team, the Montreal Royals. In that season, Jackie was subject to even more abuse than in his later Dodger period, almost to driving him to a nervous breakdown. However, Robinson survived in part because the population of Montreal made their city a welcome oasis where he was the local hero with a level of adoration so powerful that when the Royals won the Minor League World Series there, Robinson was chased by his exuberant fans right to his departing train. As one observer said, "It was the first time when a black man was chased by a mob with love, instead of lynching, on its mind."
 * Of course, this being Montreal people weren't as judgemental about skin colour. Just judgemental about whether one spoke English or French.
 * Well there was a book in the sixties that labeled French-Canadians "the white niggers of North America" so there was probably a good deal of sympathy there.
 * The Patriot Guard Riders. To put it succinctly, the WBC or Westboro Baptist Church was protesting Iraq. This is ok, they have a right to protest, yes. Then they showed up at the funeral of SPC Meyers of St Joseph, Missouri. They are operating in every state of the US to shield the mourning families from protesters by drowning them out with their motorcycles. They cooperate with the law enforcement. They do not use violence.
 * Once upon a time, in a distant land, there lived a prince, who after receiving education in a foreign land, met a young girl. They fell in love and married, unfortunately being rejected by both their families due to their marriage of inconvenience. After being rejected by both their kingdoms, the couple began to build a nation in the midst of poverty and a region of conflict, turning it into an oasis of a nation that it is today. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Seretse and Ruth Khama of Botswana.
 * Malcom X had a profoundly moving CMOH in 1964 after his pilgrimage to Mecca. Consider that this was a man who grew up in the '30s and '40s in Jim Crow America, which was not a particularly fun time to be black; three uncles were murdered by white men and his grandmother raped by a white man; the Klan threatened the family several times, once while his mother was pregnant with him, burned down their home, and later murdered his father; the insurance company wouldn't give his mother the benefits of her husband's life insurance policy, claiming the man committed suicide in spite of evidence to the contrary; she was considered unfit to be a mother by authorities and committed to a mental institution for 26 years while Malcolm and his siblings were split up by social services and put in abusive foster homes; in spite of his good grades and ambitions to become a lawyer, both peers and teachers told him it would never happen, so he dropped out; he took degrading jobs serving obnoxious racists and turned to crime on the side, which he was jailed and suffered for. He joined the Nation of Islam, a black nationalist movement. This was a man who had EVERY REASON to hate white people and voiced that resentment with such forceful eloquence that even Martin Luther King momentarily shared that hate while listening to him, although he of course conquered that quickly. Then Malcolm when to Mecca on pilgrimage and saw the brotherhood of humanity in a whole new way and came back with this to say.
 * This from the BBC's Last Night of the Proms 2009: the traditional singing of Auld Lang Syne. Sure the airhorns are annoying, but this was the Royal Albert, the largest theater in Britain, packed to the gills, and you could hear a pin drop.
 * A 9/11 story about a firefighter who was not called to the towers, but had a wife who worked there. When the towers collapsed, they both feared that the other was dead, but they are reunited soon after at the firehouse.
 * Also, the "Miracle of Stairwell B", in which several city firefighters actually survived inside the collapsing North Tower. They'd willingly slowed down their own escape to assist an injured older woman's descent, and therefore just happened to be in the one piece of stairwell that didn't cave in on itself when the building fell.
 * Johnny Dare, A radio DJ in this Troper's hometown, does a charity known as "Hope for the Holidays" ever year. People in need write letters to his radio show asking for a "hand up" They play Hark the Herald Angels Sing as they read the letter and interview the person in need. And then it shifts into a rock instrumental version of "Twelve Days of Christmas" and the support rolls in. Makes my day every time.
 * Ringo Starr once decided the Beatles didn't need him, so he left. The band almost immediately flew over to get him back, and George Harrison decorated his drum set with flowers as a welcome-back surprise.
 * Ringo's book "Postcards from the Boys" provides a lot of heartwarming moments between the Beatles--including the flower thing. He mentions that he was filming a movie, and George was supposed to have a part in it. George broke his ankle or something, and couldn't be in the movie, but flew over and hung out on set with Ringo anyway.
 * Ringo was once asked in an interview: "What was the best thing about being in the Beatles?" Ringo's reply? "Having three brothers."
 * The story behind the song "Hey Jude". Paul McCartney wrote it for John Lennon's son Julian, who was perfectly miserable at the time trying to cope with his parents' divorce.
 * The Christmas truces of World War One.
 * Having come in a few months after the event, this particular troper finds the page chronicling the frenzied conversation immediately following the Great Crash to be bizarrely heartwarming. All those tropers, working toward one noble goal... * sniff*
 * It was so heartwarming, in fact, that it helped when the TFWiki went through its own catastrophic crash. A number of the editors were really upset and wringing their hands, but all I could think was, "Hey, the TV Tropes people managed to restore all of their lost stuff through teamwork and Google caches--so can we!" which managed to keep me from getting too downhearted to try. And sure enough we did succeed. :D
 * This is a bit of a stretch, but reading these lists as a whole is one giant Crowning Moment of Heartwarming. That's right, Crowning Moment of Heartwarming is its own Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.
 * This troper feels it works as a Real Life Tear Jerker as well.
 * Actually, yes, it does. This Troper actually bust out crying (manly tears!) after reading the Schindler's List ending on the Film examples. This list is heartwarming all by its own damn self.
 * This troper agrees as well. She has started wibbling over things she hasn't even ever seen or heard of on these lists, just because it's so heartwarming.
 * Reading through the Crowning Moment of Heartwarming and Sweet Dreams Fuel pages once brought this troper out of depression. Yeah, it's just that amazing.
 * The Real Life section of You Are Not Alone.
 * Tank Man, AKA the Unknown Rebel. A single man displaying heroism and bravery that belong to the best of comic books or movies, only in real life. It's a touching, inspiring moment, showing humanity at its absolute best. Also, a Crowning Moment of Awesome.
 * Similar photo from the 1968 occupation of Czechoslovakia shows a bare-chested man facing a tank.
 * Three times is a charm: This photo of a protester offering flowers to the police at the 17th November 1989 demonstration (which ended up being brutally suppressed by the police, with hundreds of people injured - an event that sparked what came to be called the Velvet Revolution). Also, the Velvet Revolution itself.
 * Matt Harding of "Where the Hell is Matt?" fame's latest video. The sight of so many people all over the world dancing brought this troper to tears of laughter.
 * Tears of laughter, hell; this troper gets a huge lump in his throat at the India section at 2:33 in the video. I've made a point to not watch the video more than once every two weeks, because I don't want that feeling to become diminished by overplaying it.
 * India?! It was when he was in the Demilitarized Zone that This Troper had to pause the video to cry.
 * If the sheer amount of joy displayed in this video doesn't make you feel just a little bit better about humanity in general, nothing ever will.
 * The two young women in this episode of "What Would You Do?" All day, people came and went seeing a Muslim woman (apparently) being verbally abused and refused service--and these two girls finally stepped in and, most importantly, refused to stand down.
 * The man whose son had just returned from a year in Iraq, sharing a tearful hug with the Muslim girl who helped design the experiment, though the whole thing doubles as a Tear Jerker.
 * Azrael's story about a homemade owl given to him for his birthday brings this troper close to tears every time he reads it.
 * Also, the followup article.
 * Speaking of the sheer awesomeness of Boston-based fandoms: This Troper attended the New Kids on the Block "Homecoming" concert at the TD Banknorth Garden last night. The guys have stated that they expected their reunion, after a fifteen year hiatus, would be, at most, popular with the few remaining dedicated fans and they probably had a vague suspicion that the Boston show would be popular. But it became absolutely clear that they had no idea HOW dedicated the fandom has been all this time during the point in the show when Donnie was trying to finish a monologue introducing the next song... And he was having a very hard time doing so because he was moved to tears by the audience: hundreds and hundreds of fans, many bringing along their children, not so much cheering as hitting octaves not heard since 1990, and wearing their lovingly preserved classic concert shirts, hats, giant buttons, and so on. Talk about "I'll Be Loving You Forever"!
 * Stephen Colbert on cynicism.

""Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we.""
 * At the finale of the Wembly Stadium performances of Live Aid, Sir Bob Geldof being lifted up to thunderous applause, acknowledging him as a Big Damn Hero.
 * Even the vile fictional Joker can lead to a beautiful true life moment. This troper was so impressed by Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight that a few days after she first saw it, she went to look for fan sites for him (having not paid much attention to him before). She discovered Chelsea Grin, which had been established by excited fans July 2007 to anticipate/celebrate his Joker...fans who thus faced the sorrow and media frenzy of his death in January '08. On the one-year anniversary of the site's formation - before the film opened - they posted a page of reflections. This troper's heart melted first for their tenderness, second for their faith in his talent being borne out... and how.
 * The German legend of the Castle of the Faithful Wives gets this troper every time. Happened in Weinsberg in 1140, according to the Chronica regia Coloniensis.
 * The British Royal Guards playing the "Star Spangled Banner" in Buckingham Palance the day after the September 11 attacks. If nations are people and anthems are their lullabies, then here was Mother England singing to her grieving American child.
 * This troper would like to nominate the above lullaby metaphor for a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming of its own. It seriously made me tear up. Then the song made me lose it.
 * The entire city of New York (actually the whole country) uniting as never before at the 9-11 attacks.
 * Actually the whole WORLD, more or less.
 * France playing the Star-Spangled Banner. Given that France has never minced words over how much they dislike the U.S., that was a combo Crowning Moment of Heartwarming and Tear Jerker.
 * Buckingham Palace playing it wins out. Whoever described it as like 'a mother singing to her child' got it right.
 * A description that never fails to move me to tears.
 * Video is here. And now this American troper is crying.
 * Even more of a Tear Jerker when you consider that The Star Spangled Banner was composed during the war of 1812 (A war with Britain).
 * Three days after the attack, the German destroyer FGS Lütjens approached the American destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill at sea, her sailors manning the rails, flying an American flag along with the German Naval Ensign, and holding a banner reading "We Stand by You".
 * After the July 2005 London Subway Bombing, the city of New York did something similar: The American flags on the Brooklyn Bridge were lowered to half-mast by Division painters on July 9, 2005 in tribute to the victims of the London, England transit bombings of July 7, 2005. The attacks killed 56 people and injured 700 on three Underground trains and a double-decker bus. The flags remained at half-mast until July 13, 2005.
 * In Sweden, the cabinet ordered that the national flag be flown at half mast all over the country for a day. Such an honour is usually reserved for the death of a member of the royal famaily.
 * Congress singing "God Bless America"
 * In Canada, a number of people were flying the American flag from their cars or yard to show their solidarity with Americans, as well as flying our own flag at half mast. The townhouse complex across the street from me has two huge flag staffs with the Canadian flag on it, and both were at half mast for at least a week after 9/11 happened. All of the political differences and silly rivalries between our two countries were put aside in the weeks following 9/11, in favour of an outpouring of love, compassion and support. What happened on 9/11 was horrible, but the demonstration of human goodness in the aftermath was truly touching.
 * An outstanding example would be the residents of small towns like Gander, Newfoundland, who pulled together to host the thousands of international travellers who were suddenly stranded on their doorstep when their flights were diverted to Canada following the shutdown of US airspace.
 * Canada gets a Crowning Moment of Awesome for their help during 9-11. Most Canadians didn't even think about what was happening elsewhere, at least until news about the Pentagon and Pennsylvania came in. So, from this, and every New Yorker who lived through that nightmare... Thank You.
 * If you've never taken a university level science course, you may not understand fully what hard asses university level science professors are, but they are. No-nonsense is an understatement. The ones that teach Anatomy and Physiology are no exception. So, when at 9:55 A.M. on September 11th, 2001, said professor makes an announcement to the lab that several terrorist acts around the nation have occurred, it gives you pause. When the same professor then comes in 10 minutes later and says "Everyone, I'm just going to dismiss class for today... Everyone go home, just go home, if you have any friends or family in New York, call them to make sure they are okay," it gives you even greater pause. And then when the same professor over hears you mentioning that you can't get through to your grandmother in New York because the cell phone system is all tied up, and she instructs you to use her personal landline in her office to make the call, it becomes a moment of heartwarming. Like I said, you really need to understand university science professors to make this one work. And yes, Grandma was fine.
 * Also, when the Northeast Blackout cut out power to almost everyone in New York City, this troper expected massive rioting, death, and destruction. He was almost brought to tears when he saw that instead, most of the city supported each other and united to help each other through the event.
 * The "Free Hugs Campaign" video.
 * Yes
 * There are Free Hugs videos from around the world. That's right, hug the world.
 * Team Hoyt, a father and son duo that participates marathons, triathlons, and other such events.
 * Several evangelical Christian groups in America criticised SpongeBob SquarePants for advocating homosexuality after a video featuring SpongeBob was supported by the We Are Family Foundation (coincidence), who supports gay rights. Although Stephen J. Hillenburg said SpongeBob was asexual, John H. Thomas, the United Church of Christ's general minister and president, said the United Church would welcome SpongeBob into their ministry:

"What we talked about will have to remain a secret between him and me. I spoke to him as a brother whom I have pardoned and who has my complete trust."
 * Whether you like the Catholic Church or not, it cannot be denied that Pope John Paul the Second broke many old conventions, traveled the world as no other Pope ever had, spoke to World Leaders about peace, treated leaders of others religions as equals, and -in a posthumous Crowning Moment of Heartwarming- brought all of them together for his funeral.
 * And inspired the Polish people to overthrow the Stalinist Government. It wasn't straight away but being a Polish Pope helped.
 * Also, take into account that he was Pope John Paul the Second. His predecessor Pope John Paul I was only Pope from 26 August 1978 to 28 September 1978, but in that short time took steps to humanize the papacy and was beloved by the people. John Paul II not only took the name, but used his first address as Pope to honor his predecessor, making sure that he would be remembered though his time in office was short.
 * The very first thing he did after being freed from his hospital bed after being shot in the chest was visiting the would-be killer in jail. They then spent twenty minutes talking in complete solitude. When asked what they spoke about he answered:


 * ... sorry, I have something in my eye...
 * John Paul II isn't the only one here. Pope Saint Pius X was very devoted to his pastoral work and would be rather harsh to those parents who didn't send their children to catechism. When a cholera epidemic broke out in Salzano, he worked so much to help the poor his own never regained its former vigor. The poor loved him so much that, convinced the medicine their doctors were giving them was intended to put an end to their lvies, they would only accept it from Don Giuseppe's hands. He would often sell his BISHOP'S RING and would visit the poor areas in Venice and preach to the people there. He once heard a woman beating a child very harshly and called her out, threatening her with the authorities if she continued to mistreat the child. Even as Pope, he still lived a very poor lifestyle saying the famous words: I was born poor, lived poor and I want to die poor. The Apostolic Palace was filled with refugees form the 1908 Messina earthquake and people often joked that if he could he'd sell the Vaticasn itself. People would even be healed through his blessings. He was also very humble. When he consecrated a shrine of the Blessed Virgin on Mount Grappa in front of 10,000 pilgrims, he shook his head when they started shouting 'Viva our Patriarch!' and instead said: 'No, viva Our Lady!' Sadly, he died of a broken heart with the troubles of the first world war taking their tolls on him.
 * A lot of Catholics have become saints for Crowning Moment of Heartwarming's:
 * St. Damien of Molokai: A Belgian priest, he went to Hawai'i in the late 1800's as a missionary. At the time, Hawaiians were dying in droves from European diseases. One of the worst was leprosy; to prevent its spread, the Hawaiian king ordered lepers quarantined on the island of Molokai. The local bishop knew that the lepers deserved a priest, but the assignment was a death sentence. Fr. Damien volunteered. For the next 25 years, Fr. Damien lived among the lepers, serving as a priest, but also teaching children, dressing sores, building houses, and digging graves. Fr. Damien ultimately contracted leprosy himself and died, asking only to be buried with the other lepers. When the king's daughter came to Molokai to present a posthumous medal to Fr. Damien, she was moved to tears by what she saw on the island. Fr. Damien was named a saint in 2009; he is the patron saint of people with HIV/AIDS.
 * Euphrasia Pelletier was an 18 century nun who founded the order of the Good Shepherd to save wayward girls who were in moral danger. She saved a lot of child prostitutes, homeless women and others abandoned by their families and had nowhere to go. She told her nuns "C up of milk given at the right moment will doto bring her back to right dispositions than would acts of severity". She cared not only for their physical well being but for their souls. She emphasized the importance of the catechism but also that the girls should be kept interested. Many of the rescued girls even joined the order or remained permanent penintents.
 * Mary Joseph Rosello founded the order of our Lady of Mercy which was founded to help girls who were ransomed from slavery. As she lay dying, one of the girls even came up to her death bed and started crying; nobody had the heart to send her away.

""For me the night of Tlatelolco is a juxtaposition of images of hell and images of human warmth and solidarity among all these helpless, trapped people." -Claude Kiejman, in an interview with Proceso Magazine in 1998."
 * How One Girl's Tragic Past Leads to a Dream Come True Carmina Salcido had the most horrific events happen in her life starting when she was just 3 years old. Her father went on a killing rampage back in April 1989 and murdered her entire family except her Grandfather and left her for death in a garbage dump. She survived by some miracle and was found by a person some 36 hours after the assault. Her two sisters lied dead by her side. Carmina remembers most of all the events that happened that gruesome day and has since written a book, "Not Lost Forever", published by Harper Collins with then agent at the time, Gloria Allred. Jeffery Walsh: 'I had such mixed emotions after watching this program, anger, sadness, sorrow, but one thing that stood out in my mind was I wanted to reach out and do something. I sat at the computer the next day thinking and thinking, so I thought I would Google her name, and see what comes up. I saw that she had a My Space page, so I went to that, and noticed she had music favorites with the first song being t.A.T.u.'s "All About Us". Then I scrolled through some more, and saw "30 Minutes", and more and more t.A.T.u. songs. I thought this girl was a huge fan of t.A.T.u. My wife is Russian so we know the band well and have been t.A.T.u. fans from the beginning. I was definitely taken by this "sign", as not a lot of people know of this fantastic jewel of a group in America. So it was at that moment I got the idea to contact t.A.T.u.'s PR /management and see if by some way Carmina could meet the girls of t.A.T.u...' Full story here.
 * Something Awful Goons raised tens of thousands of dollars in a matter of hours for the Katrina relief effort, only for Pay Pal to freeze the account because sudden, large amounts of money tends to be highly suspect. They still somehow managed to get the money to (I belive) the Red Cross. They donated in mass amounts again during the Victoria wildfires in Australia.
 * One day, a foolish person thought he could ask the goons if they could come out to San Francisco help with a film school assignment he'd been procrastinating on. The moderators thought that was stupid and gave him a challenge to do or be banned, and people started betting on whether he'd actually do it ("I'll give $10 to the Red Cross if he's banned"). Someone else did the challenge for fun and was given permission to alter the original challenge. In a fit of mercy he changed it to just donating $10. Then Japan was hit by a triple diaster of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown. The "bets" started snowballing and the goons ultimately wound up giving almost three-quarters-of-a-million dollars to various charities. I have no idea if the original guy ever donated money as he seemed to have dropped off the face of the internet in shame.
 * When Heath Ledger died, his will was an older one, so his daughter wasn't in it. He had been in the middle of filming the movie "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus." Instead of having to re-film everything, the character was made into a shapeshifter, with Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell co-playing the main character. All three actors have agreed to give the money they make from the movie to Ledger's daughter, Matilda.
 * People who are wary of the other stars taking up Ledgers' screen time will rest assured knowing that it'll be him on the screen for the majority (45 mins).
 * Equally heartwarming was Heath Ledger's parents' vow that they would ignore his will and make sure that his entire estate would go to the daughter and not to them.
 * Daniel Day-Lewis dedicated his Screen Actors' Guild award for Best Actor (for There Will Be Blood) to Heath Ledger, even though he'd never met Ledger.
 * In a similar vein: Ving Rhames, upon winning the 1998 Golden Globe award for best actor over his amazing portrayal as Don King in 'Only in America', asked Jack Lemmon (who had also been nominated) to come up on stage and then presented the award to him, telling Jack that he deserved the award more. Ving refused to take it back, and Lemmon kept it til he died.
 * Fred "Mr." Rogers. To sum it up, his whole life
 * The ur-Example of this was one that didn't come out until 2003 - a story related by a former employee. Many of the men working for Mr. Rogers would make fun of him behind his back for being too soft and the like - but in private, they would sneak into where he was rehearsing and privately ask for personal advice ranging from impotence to marital troubles... all while talking to his puppets, at that. On top of that, he never showed any sign of having had those conversations with them, as a way to respect their privacy.
 * And then there's his 1997 acceptance speech for the lifetime achievement award. Manly tears from this troper.
 * And his testimony before Congress to stop them cutting PBS funding is both a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming and a Crowning Moment of Awesome.
 * Fred Rogers says goodbye. Doubles as a Tear Jerker.
 * Rotten.com is one of the worst shock sites to grace the internet, and the cynical, wordy Rotten Library is all to happy to highlight the worst of humanity. And even this internet cesspool had to pause for a moment, and give grateful thanks to the world for Fred Rogers, and make you weep.
 * I know it's in the link above, but all of Mr. Rogers's cardigans were hand-knit by his mother. Oh, Mr. Rogers. You even make a simple sweater heartwarming.
 * Fred Rogers is the major reason to research immortality. Let our descendants from the 24th and one half Century watch Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, and they will feel the same thing.
 * Xkcd, known for the fun it pokes at many things, could only make this strip in his honor.
 * On some billboards between Madison, WI and Dubuque, IA, there are several motivational ones, including one near this troper's college that has a picture of Mr. Rogers with "Will you be my neighbor?" and "Friendship, pass it on" on it.
 * Those billboards are in several parts of the country, and are part of the Foundation for a Better Life. All their billboards, posters, & advertisements are CMoH's.
 * Obama's Election Night speech included the story of the 106-year old daughter of slaves voting for him, looking back on all that's happened over the past century and how some things have actually changed for the better.
 * The celebrating crowd in Ebenezer Baptist Church (Reverend King's church), and the various middle-aged black men crying with joy.
 * This troper actually started crying when she read about the huge support many World of Warcraft players paid to the Make A Wish Foundation, all in the memory of a certain boy named Ezra. From the forums; and here's the skinny on Big Red Kitty's Running of the Bulls event to support the cause; hop around the blog for what happened on the day.
 * Some years ago, the surviving members of the "Rats of Tobruk" (an association of Australian World War 2 veterans) decided that they were now too old and too few to continue maintaining the association's clubhouse. So they decided to sell the clubhouse (including all of its priceless memorabilia) with the intention of donating all the money from the sale to charity. The charity they picked was one that helped children afflicted with cancer, and in this manner they hoped - for one last time - that they could help ensure a brighter future for the younger generation.
 * This story, in itself, was incredibly heart-warming on its own, but it took an even more incredible turn soon thereafter: Initially, property developers wanted to tear down the clubhouse and put a residential building in its place. However, when a rich businessman heard about the story he immediately paid almost double the price of the property, outbidding all other takers. After giving the money to the charity, the businessman then told the astonished veterans that "You can keep using it as long as you want. My debt to you can never be repaid."
 * Fittingly, the "Rats of Tobruk" were survivors of an eigth-month siege in the desert, against one of the greatest Germans Generals of the war (Rommel). Their motto was two simple words: "No Surrender". They still haven't.
 * Manly tears.
 * I don't know if this counts, but in the middle of the Mexican Student Movement of 1968, the students found great support in the middle class to the point that the neighbors of the Tlatelolco and Miguel Alemán Housing Units (built by the government to show the progess of Mexico) would do things like not paying maintenance in the former and cheering the students' marches in the latter. The movement was brutally repressed on Wednesday, October 2, 1968, when the Mexican Army and a secret branch: the Olympia Battalion (a group made of soldiers and policemen for the security of the Olympic Games) began a shooting that killed 40-250 people. Even in the middle of the "battle", and with the probability that a lost bullet would find you, the neighbors helped the students hide from the army and made them look like their family ("He's my son/nephew"). Some people got successful and hid the younglings for days until they returned safely to their parents. Others were not so lucky.

"Bandleader Wallace Hartley:Gentlemen, it has been a privelege playing with you tonight."
 * Another example from Mexico. In 1985, a big earthquake with a magnitude of 8.1 in the Richter scale hit Mexico City. Instead of helping the citizens, the president hid himself in his official residence while the police and the army did almost nothing to help the Mexicans recover from the disaster. The Mexican society basically had to organize themselves to dig up the rubble and rescue the trapped people. With rudimentary methods like calling out someone and asking if anyone was there, people were rescued. The society's organization was amazing: ambulant business people that put makeshift restaurants in every corner (very common in Mexico City) were making food for the homeless people in the shelters. Others were making makeshift ambulances with their cars, others gave their homes as a sort of motel where the workers would sleep and rest and then depart to dig more rubble (many even didn't feel tired and were eager to dig more and more rubble). Opera singer Plácido Domingo personally arrived at the Tlatelolco Housing Unit and supervised the rescue efforts because his uncles and nephews were living in the Nuevo León apartment complex (almost all of the residents, including Domingo's family perished). Even some women volunteered to be nurses and breastfeed infants. But the most heartwarming thing is that after being trapped a lot of time in the rubble, 17 babies were able to be rescued. The population calls them "Los Bebés del Milagro" or "Los Bebés Milagrosos" (the Miracle Babies). This video shows the babies being rescued and the rescuers applauding as they take the dust-covered infant away.
 * In the early 1800's, Beethoven, nearing the end of his life, composed and conducted the 9th symphony for the first time in front of a great audience. He had put his blood, sweat and tears into that song, and managed to finish it despite his deafness. Upon finishing the symphony, he looked out and the instrumentalists had tears in their eyes. His friend tapped him on the shoulder, and when Beethoven turned around he saw a mass crowd giving him a standing ovation.
 * This story was beautifully told in a Peanuts cartoon. Real Life page or not, it wouldn't be complete without mentioning this.
 * I think it's mentioned in Western Animation, but when the Marquis de Lafayette was wounded at Brandywine -- basically, a rich kid fighting another country's war, just because he thought it was the right thing to do -- His Excellency Gen. George Washington took his personal physician aside and said, "Treat him as though he were my son." Made all the more heartwarming because Lafayette's father died in war when he was a baby and Washington was childless (although he loved his wife's children and grandchildren, and had several proteges). Reading a biography of Lafayette will provide plenty of such moments between them, though.
 * In World War One, before America officially entered the war, there were American pilots fighting in a company named after Lafayette.
 * Lafayette also earned the name "The Soldier's Friend" from the Revolutionary army. At one point, after hearing that several of his men were planning to desert, he called them all together and told them that he would write an excuse note for any man who wanted to leave, so that they wouldn't be prosecuted. He paid, out of his own pocket, for the uniforms of every man under him.
 * He named his son after George Washington. Awww.
 * Of course, anyone who's studied the years of the French Revolution in any detail is liable to take a much less sympathetic view of Lafayette for what he did later in life. That said, he still had some incredible moments in the American War of Independence.
 * The talk of Lafayette reminded me of a story my father told me concerning a French Officer and the 101st Airborne in Afghanistan. My father was one of the commanding officers in the 101st during their last rotation and they worked with a French Division stationed there. As they were rotating back home there was a ceremony where they gave the commander of the French Division a Screaming Eagles combat patch. The French Commander started to cry and gave a speech about how the 101st were a huge part of D-Day which was ultimately responsible for liberating France and it is the greatest honor he has ever recieved to be reconized by the heroes of his country.
 * The Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetary, commemorating all the U.S. soldiers who died without having their remains identified. A single sentinel guards the tomb. He doesn't wear any rank insignia, so that he never outranks the unknown soldier. The tomb is guarded 24/7 in all weather (including, at least once, a hurricane) and has been, continuously, since 1937.
 * There are actually several Tombs of the Unknowns in the United States, each commemorating a different war - with the exception of Vietnam. They identified the body in 1998 and were able to finally send him home to his family. The Vietnam memorial now contains the inscription "Honoring and Keeping Faith with America's Missing Servicemen" - a promise to all the missing soldiers that they too, someday, can finally come home.
 * The original memorial for the "Unknowns" is in Westminster Abbey in Britain, commemorating the British dead of the First World War. It contains the inscription "They buried him among the Kings, because he had done good toward God and toward his House." When the memorial was unveiled, the guests of honor were 100 women who had lost their husband and all their sons during the war. It is the only tombstone in the Abbey on which it is forbidden to walk.
 * As a sign of friendship, the Americans would also award the British Unknown Warrior with the Medal of Honor, their highest award for bravery. The British would reciprocate, awarding the American Unknown soldier with the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest award for bravery.
 * Here in Canada, our Unknown Soldier is literally unknown to most of our civilian population, even during the current War on Terror. So what happens when CBC hosts it's "Top 100 Greatest Canadians" event in 2004? The Unknown Soldier not only gets NOMINATED (and ACCEPTED despite a few vocal people saying he/she doesn't count), but gets voted up to 22nd place. By contrast, John Mc Crae only achieved 76th.
 * For years, there was an "Unknown Child" from the Titanic. It was the body of a baby boy recovered by the crew of the cable ship Mackay-Bennett. The crew were so upset by the fact that no one came to claim the boy that they took him as one of their own, paying for his funeral and putting him atop Fairview Cemetery in Halifax. In the early 2000s, a team of scientists was dispatched to the cemetery to try and identify all of the unknown bodies recovered from the famous ship. They were shocked to find that there were still fresh flowers on the child's grave - the Mackay-Bennet's crew, their descendents, and the people of Halifax were still taking care of the boy nine decades hence.
 * And the scientists DID manage to identify the boy, the only one out of all the unknown bodies from the Titanic in the cemetery. All the other bodies had withered away because of flooding - except for the boy's because it was on top of the hill. Even then only one tiny fragment of bone was recovered from the boy - which only survived because of a bronze cherub amulet that shielded it from decomposition. The amulet had been placed there by the crew of the Mackay-Bennet during the funeral. Still, the tiny piece of bone yielded enough DNA to provide a positive identification. One of the astonished scientists could only choke out: "Someone really wanted us to know who this child is."
 * His name is Sidney Leslie Goodwin. He lived for but a few months. He waited for over ninety years. But thanks to the love of strangers one boy finally has a name.
 * Anyone on the Titanic who stayed behind so others could get to the lifeboats should be mentioned. William Thomas Stead and J.J. Astor deserve special mention, as do the orchestra who continued to play despite the ship sinking. The camaraderie and chivalry in the face of such terrible odds shouldn't be forgotten.

""Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours... You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. Having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.""
 * Though no one knows what the real Hartley's last words were, it would be nice to think they were along the lines of this.
 * Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus
 * Samantha Smith. During the height of the Cold War, this kid wrote a letter to Soviet Premier Andropov (whom the western media assumed was going to be a forbidding Complete Monster) and politely asks him to not have a nuclear war. Andropov wrote back, saying that he really did want peace, and invited her to visit the USSR and see that they were Not So Different after all. She accepted.
 * There's a Tear Jerker in that she was killed under three years later in a plane crash. There's a statue in Russia, of a little girl holding a white dove.
 * Church Holds Funeral For 14th-Century Witch. Six years ago, in the Southern England town of Hoo, a construction dig unearthed the body of a decapitated woman. Tests showed that it was a girl no older than fourteen, who had probably been shamed and condemned as a witch before her entire village, and then beheaded, probably in the 1300s. The vicar of the local Anglican church, "felt a need to give her what had clearly been denied to her all those years ago," and held a proper funeral for her at St. Werburgh's Church. Some 200 mourners attended the service.
 * Now that's making a statement.
 * Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the first president of the Republic of Turkey, was also the victor of the Battle of Gallipoli during the First World War. He had inflicted a quarter of a million casualties on the British, Australian, French, and New Zealand soldiers that had invaded his country, but in doing so lost even more men in the process. Yet, after the war, he supported the effort to create war memorial for the fallen Allied troops. He also renamed one of the battlefields as "ANZAC Cove", as it has become a virtual shrine for the surviving relatives of the Australian and New Zealand dead. Still, all of these acts of magnanimity could not be topped by speech he would compose for the mothers of the fallen soldiers; one so heart-warming that the Australian government chose it for its own war memorial in Sydney. He said:

""We are poor, but rich in our willingness to offer -->assistance to the people of Japan in your time of need.""
 * Four words: I Have a Dream.
 * The contributions and sacrifices of atheist soldiers are often overlooked because of their minority status. This memorial was made to help remind the world of their sacrifice and service, lest we forget.
 * The memorial is partly based from the often-used WW 2 quote "There are no atheists in foxholes. This is not meant to be an insult against atheists. It's meant to be an insult against foxholes." Conditions in the foxholes were so bad that many soldiers found themselves changed by the experience, and formed bonds with complete strangers closer than brothers. It didn't matter if you were a Jew, a Protestant, a Catholic, an Atheist, a Buddhist, or whatever. In the WW 2 US Army, as long as you shared a foxhole with someone, that person is going to be willing to die for you.
 * Another Atheist example; Damon Fowler, who stood up to his school administration for holding a prayer during their high school graduation ceremony, was ostracized by his community, threatened, and even kicked out of his house by his parents. Atheists all around the United States(namely the Freedom From Religion Foundation) have pooled resources to ensure that Damon continues his education, and he now lives with his brother.
 * Your Mileage May Vary, of course, as one can find the harassment abhorrent while simultaneously being religious; it's arguable whether or not "standing up against" a presumably-harmless prayer (one assumes it lacked the line "Also, let godless atheist heathens burn in Hell") isn't just as disrespectful to believers of said religion as having the prayer in the first place was to atheists.
 * Still, being terrorized so brutally for simply protesting against being unneccesarily forced to practice a faith or belief system that isn't yours is very over-the-top. Especially since there is no real reason for the presence of collective praying during a graduation ceremony.
 * This video, particularly the last 30 seconds, in which William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy reminisce. Including Shatner admitting wonderingly, "I really, really liked it. I liked the show!" and Nimoy telling Shatner, "You're my best friend," after which they both agree that, "If nothing else, this [their friendship] made it worthwhile."
 * For a particularly ancient example, this text inscribed on the tomb of a British royal guard: Catuvellaunorix bathbanay acorrius cagoran, King of the Catuvellauni, I am dead. I hope it was enough.
 * Canadian troops give a eyes-right salute -- reserved for reviewing chiefs of state and the like -- to a 3- or 4-yo boy who was saluting them on the roadside.
 * It's not often that something absolutely adorable also inspires Manly Tears. This is one of those times.
 * After the Halifax Explosion in 1917, which was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions that killed 2000 some-odd civilians; Boston, Massachusetts was one of the earlier responders if not the earliest. For their eternal gratitude, Nova Scotia thanks the city by sending them a giant white spruce tree, which becomes their Christmas Tree. A good sum of these trees are taken from yards of common people
 * Boston sent out a relief train at 10pm the day of the Explosion. It happened at 9 in the morning. It still warms this troper who called Halifax her home for 5 years's heart.
 * We can't mention the Halifax Explosion without mentioning Vince Coleman, the Railway dispatcher who saved 300 lives at the cost of his own. After hearing about the dangers of the burning Mont-Blanc, he sent out an urgent dispatch to a train coming in from New Brunswick, saying 'Stop trains. Munitions ship on fire. Approaching Pier 6. Goodbye.'. The train and several others were stopped. Vince is now honoured as a hero and featured in a Historica Minutes video.
 * While filming Memoirs of a Geisha, one of the actresses was sent a package which contained a kimono and a letter. The letter was from a woman who was once a geisha, telling the actress that she hoped the movie would remind her of the good times she had. The actress was so moved that she invited the woman to attend the premiere of the movie.
 * To be specific, it was Zhang Ziyi who received that package (she played the main character).
 * The fall of the Berlin Wall.
 * Shortly after East Berliners started streaming through to the west, a number of intrepid souls went out and started walking through the Brandenburg Gate, which the East Berlin border patrols quickly put a stop to. One dignified East Berlin lady yelled at the commanding officer, tears in her eyes, that she wanted, just once in her life, to be able to walk under the Brandenburg Gate, "Is that so hard to understand?" And so the officer took her, personally, arm-in-arm for a slow walk under the gate. Link to the video.'
 * It is this reason entirely that Rush's obscure single Heresy from Roll the Bones is this troper's personal Crowning Music of Awesome for that band.
 * Watching videos related to the fall of the Berlin Wall and seeing how happy people were always brings tears to my eyes. One of the heartwarming moments I love most.
 * The end of the Cold War, and the fall of the communist dictatorships in Eastern Europe.
 * Your Mileage May Vary. And a lot, given the wide spread of Ostalgie and the bad situation in which many of said states are now.
 * The Sezchuan Earthquake. A man who carried the body of his wife so that she may have a proper burial, the teacher who died saving her students, the man who was buried under rubble insisting that he can wait while the relief team helped the less fortunate victims (he died shortly after being rescued), the relief efforts of the various parties involved (this troper's father was a racist against the japanese for their atrocities in WW 2, now, because of how fast they reacted and helped during the disaster, he loves them), and the poor beggar who gave over ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS to the relief funds. There are just too many to list. If these are not heartwarming, nothing is.
 * A dozen such instances are immortalized in comic form here.
 * Warning: You may want to make sure you have tissues handy. They're serious Tearjerker material, as should be expected.
 * During the siege of Leningrad, a man starved to death surrounded by edible seeds, so that they might be saved for future generations.
 * Twelve. Twelve people died of starvation so that the contents of the Pavlovsk Experimental Research station would be safe. Now we just need to save it from housing developers.
 * Throw a dart anywhere the cast and crew are talking about Firefly and you'll find one, but my personal favorite is this: In the episode "Out of Gas," the rest of the crew is forced to evacuate the ship, leaving Mal behind. Wash designs a button for Mal to press that would call the shuttles back in the event Mal managed to get help. While shooting the episode, Alan Tudyk stole the button and later sent it to Joss Whedon after the cancellation with a note that said "When your miracle gets here, call us back." And it did.
 * In 1912, Mayor of Tokyo Yukio Ozakio presented the city of Washington, D.C. with the gift of cherry trees, commemorating the two countries' friendship. The first two of these trees were planted by First Lady Helen Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese-U.S. ambassador, in the Tidal Basin of West Potomac Park. In 1915, the U.S. gave Japan flowering dogwoods in return. The first National Cherry Blossom Festival in the U.S. was in 1935, organized and funded by local community organizers. In 1981, a flood destroyed many Yoshino cherry trees and Japanese horticulturists came to take clippings of the Washington trees in order to replace the fallen ones. The most recent event in this cycle was in 1999, when several cuttings from a cherry tree in Gifu Prefecture, a tree believed to be 1,500 years old, were planted to produce a new generation in the West Potomac Tidal Basin.
 * Relations between Utah and Japan began in 1872, predictably, with snow: "In Utah, Japanese had been working on railroad gangs since the turn of the century. The first Japanese seen by Utahns, however, had been in 1872. The Deseret News of February 7 of that year described a visit of approximately fifty members of Ambassador Extraordinary Iwakura's party. The visitors were forced to remain a week because of a heavy snowstorm. Territorial Gov. George L. Woods and Mayor Daniel H. Wells headed a public reception for them at City Hall. Members of the state legislature's judiciary as well as Lt. Col. Henry A. Morrow of Camp Douglas arranged a formal welcome for them." There is a bronze plaque memorializing this event in the entryway of SLC's Union Pacific Station and the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple hosts a festival each year to honor Obon and Salt Lake's first sister city, Matsumoto.
 * The Make-A-Wish Foundation. That's all that needs to be said.
 * Not just the organization itself, but the kids who use their wishes in such unselfish ways as building orphanages in third world countries, or making other kids happy never fail to make me tear up. How many of us, when told we could have whatever we want, would think of others, especially if we were terminally ill?
 * Barack Obama: "Gabby (Giffords) has opened her eyes for the first time."
 * Egypt supports Wisconsin workers. Even though I'm from Illinois, I can't help but smile looking at that picture.
 * The people of Bamyan, Afghanistan offering their support and assistance to Japan after the earthquake/tsunami.


 * The reaction to the Joplin Missouri Tornado. All of it. From the Pizza Hut employee who saved over a dozen people by holding a door shut to a group of truckers who blockaded the Westburo Baptist Church at a restaurant to stop them from sundering the memorial service.
 * The Apollo 8 Mission. 1968 had been a really bad year, with the Vietnam War and many other things. Yet these three men went up there, knowingly risking their lifes, managed to become the first people to leave Earth's gravitational field... and one of the things they brought back was the photograph of an Earthrise, as seen from the Moon. TIME chose them as the Men of the Year. As the telegraph received by Borman said, "Thank you, Apollo 8. You saved 1968."
 * Mother Teresa
 * YMMV. This is the woman who said "The suffering of the poor is something very beautiful and the world is being very much helped by the nobility of this example of misery and suffering."
 * Note that she wasn't saying it in a Scrooge-esque "The poor deserve to suffer" way. Regardless of the flaws in her theory and her lack of modern medical knowledge, one must admit that she dedicated herself to providing food and comfort to the destitute and the desperate amidst famine, disease, racial violence, and some of the worst case of poverty and suffering around.
 * And also, she very, very likely meant that the beautiful aspect of it was that the poor continue living on through the pain and sorrow anyways, making this YMMV you've posted a CMOH, if not a misunderstood one.
 * She may have meant the belief, shared by many Catholics, that everyone who suffers shares the wounds of Christ. Many devout Catholics consciously offer their pain to God as an Act of Reparation. It can indeed be a beautiful thing... when it's a choice.
 * How can we forget the doctors and nurses during the SARS period? Living, sleeping in wards and corridors, unable to see their families, facing an unknown and uncurable disease, yet never giving up and skipping town.
 * Older Than They Think. When The Black Plague was sweeping Europe, and being a priest or nurse at the side of the thousands of dying would be a death sentence, the Church decreed that all those who stayed at the side of the dying would be given a free pass to Heaven. No one can say they didn't deserve it.
 * When Viz Media, Naruto's distributors, announced they would start streaming it on their official site, Dattebayo announced that they would stop subbing Shippuuden the day that happened. They gave the reason they decided this was because Viz always turned a blind eye to them; once the streaming started, they'd have to send a C&D letter, which Dattebayo really didn't think they'd want to do, and plus announcing that they were told to stop would turn Dattebayo's fans against Viz, which they didn't feel Viz deserved. The heartwarming part came from the fans; Naruto fans, a group infamous for being more rabid than Old Yeller, started sending praise mail to Dattebayo saying that, even though they're upset DB isn't subbing it anymore, they still applaud them for putting themselves aside for the benefit of anime fans in general.
 * The story of Noh: http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Noh
 * Proof that even such horrid popular culture conflicts as the Console Wars can produce a moment of sheer heartwarming glory: D'aaaaaaaaww...
 * Dr. Seuss' The Lorax originally had the fish, chased out of their lake by pollution, say that "I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie". But "People indeed cared a whole awful lot,/ And worked very hard, and better it got." (to paraphrase the book's ending) - and so Dr. Seuss removed the line.
 * Tweenbots. As a social experiment, someone decided to make adorable fragile robots that could only move in straight lines, then set them loose in Washington Square Park in New York City, with a explanation and destination on a little flag above their heads. She didn't expect any of them to reach their destination, let alone survive. As to what actually happened... Well, just watch the video.
 * Helen Keller, despite being blind, deaf and mute, manages not only to learn how to communicate through sign language, but also earned a bachelor of arts degree, and goes on to becomes a prominent writer and social activist. If that does not describe the strength of the human spirit, I don`t know what does.
 * It is said that once while Alexander the Great was ill he received a letter saying that his doctor was in the pay of his enemies and was going to poison him. When his doctor came in with a cup of medicine Alexander took the cup, drank from it, and handed the doctor the letter. Alexander said something like "I do not know anything about medicine, but I do know people, and I know that you would never betray me." Alexander recovered from his illness a few weeks later.
 * Which becomes a Quasi-Reverse Funny Aneurysm if you choose to support the theory that Alexander's sickness was from severe alcohol poisoning (treatable) but that the medicine (that he, granted demanded higher and higher dosages of) killed him.
 * Alexander had another one after the death of his life-long friend Hephaestion. Alexander had given him a funeral that would have cost £150,000,000. This is including a sixty meter high pyre with lavish gold decorations on each level. To top it all off Alexander gave orders that on the day of the funeral the sacred flame in the temple would be extinguished. This is something that is only done when the King himself dies.
 * He also sent a message to the shrine of his patron deity, asking to have Hephaistion promoted to god (not unheard of). Alexander himself was considered a god and would be worshiped after his death. He wanted Hephaistion to share even this. He didn't get it, but Hephaistion was made a Hero (like Hercules).
 * A frumpy-looking, stout woman stepped on-stage on Britain's Got Talent, and announced that she wanted to be a professional singer. Many in the audience, even the judges, began to laugh at the thought, seeing the woman's appearance. Then she began to sing. She then got the highest approval rating of the show in three years. This troped shed a tear seeing her shock and excitement at the result.
 * The audience gives her a mid-song standing ovation. twice.
 * This Troper was under the impression that they got up and didn't sit down again.
 * The audience gave her a standing ovation five seconds in.
 * Connie Talbot. Google her. YouTube her. I dare you.
 * In a Korean TV show, Connie was singing alongside with a four-year-old blind girl who played the piano without having any formal training, other than being taught by a computer. See it here.
 * And about a year later, the two of them reunited for another performance together, as seen here. When the little blind girl came out, Connie immediately went to her side and held her hand. The little girl even referred to Connie respectfully as her "sister".
 * This video of a church skit, about the trials we face when we stray away from God. With the song "Everything" by Lifehouse playing in the background.
 * You might not expect Not Always Right.com, a site with many examples of how customers mistreat employees, to have an example here, but this story definitely qualifies.
 * This one too.
 * And this one.
 * This troper is constantly amazed by the sheer joy on the faces of the unsuspecting crowd in this video.
 * Was that supposed to be the T-Mobile flashmob ad? If so, it's here
 * Along the same lines, I present to you guys this, done by T-Mobile USA.
 * Operation: Little Vittles. An American pilot was taking a walk around a starved Berlin during the Airlift, when he was approached by a bunch of German kids. He told them he was a cargo plane pilot, then gave them his chocolate bar and promised he would drop some more. When they asked him how they would recognize him, he said "I'll wiggle my wings". On his next flight, he smuggled some candy inside his plane, and after dropping off the food, he tilted his plane back and forth, then dropped the candy. After a few times of doing this, an officer heard about it, and while his initial reaction was him getting pissed off, his superior ordered a massive drop-off of candy in Berlin. In short: the NATO Army was dropping off candy for the kids ^_^
 * It helped that the allies started getting mail addressed to "Uncle Wiggly Wings".
 * The pilot, Gail Halvorsen, was a native of Salt Lake City, Utah. During the Parade of Nations in the Opening Ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics, Halvorsen was invited to hold the title placard for the German athletes as they entered the stadium.
 * Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. They pick a family, send them on vacation, and in the timespan of a mere week they rebuild their house from scratch, all for free. The show delivers a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming at the end of each episode, when the family gets to see their new shining home and the crew who worked so hard for them.
 * The day after John Glenn orbited the Earth, he came home extremely tired after visiting the President and the like. His fan mail was piling up and the phone was ringing off the hook, but as he walked in the door, Glenn noticed that someone had picked up some groceries for his wife and brought them inside. In the bags, there was a carton of eggs that would expire the next day. Obviously, they couldn't eat them all, and he didn't want to waste the food, so Glenn dropped everything and took the eggs to his church so they could be given to the poor before coming home to answer his calls and mail. That, my friends, is a hero.
 * This site, called Gives Me Hope. Plus the sister site: Love Gives Me Hope.
 * Some examples taken from the site:
 * I woke up one morning to hear the birds outside my window and my mother cooking breakfast downstairs. I've never cried so much in my entire life. I had been deaf since the age of 8.


 * Today I was going out for a coffee with my boyfriend. On the way I passed a homeless man and gave him $5. When I got to Starbucks my boyfriend dumped me. I walked home crying, and when I passed the homeless man he told me how sorry he was, and offered to buy me a coffee. He used the $5 I gave him, and smiled proudly as he handed over the money. GMH
 * At my college graduation everyone is allowed to take a loved one with them as they walk across the stage. The last girl to walk across held the arm of her 90 year old grandpa. As they crossed the stage the chancelor read her grandfathers name. He graduated 60 years ago but didn't get to walk his own graduation because he was fighting in WWII. GMH.
 * Every year, the graduating 8th grade class votes for superlatives. The teachers add up the votes. When 'Jordan A' was announced for Most Inspirational, teachers were in tears to see our entire class who never get along, give a standing ovation. He died in a fire in fourth grade and we still consider him part of our class.
 * I was at a bookstore and an obscure author was doing a book signing. Nobody was coming over--he looked dejected. Then three teenagers came over, got his autograph & took pictures with him. It looked like it made his day. Later, I talked to them and they said they had never read his books. GMH
 * I work in a bank - a place where good news is hard to come by recently: Today I spoke with a gentleman who told me he needed to know how much money he had. When I asked if he had a large purchase coming up, he said yes. "I'm buying clothes for the man who asks me for a quarter every day on my way to school," he replies. This gentleman was 12. GMH
 * My family and I disowned my sister for her years of her drugs and alcohol abuse. I found out she was in a homeless shelter so I picked her up and took her in. She has been sober for a year, and helps my brother every day with his baby because his wife is terminally ill with cancer. Now, she is the one holding the family together. GMH
 * A little boy was lost in a park, and running around, crying "DADDY! DADDY!" A young man hurried over to comfort the boy, then proceeded to carry the boy on his shoulders, so that both father and son could find each other more easily. They did.
 * My little sister came home from school one day and demanded I take her to the library so she could get books on sign language. I asked why? She told me there was a new kid at school who was deaf and she wanted to befriend him. Today, I stood beside her at their wedding watching her sign... "I DO".
 * A boy was dying of cancer and needed an expensive brain surgery, but his family, broke and desperate, couldn't afford it. His 8 yr old took sister Tess took her piggy bank savings to a pharmacist in order to buy a 'miracle'. It just so happens that the right man witnessed the little girl's tears at the pharmacy counter: a neurosurgeon. He performed the surgery for free.

"Washington: "Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in the service of my country.""
 * There is another site called Six Billion Secrets, which exists for people to anonymously share whatever secrets they have to get them off their chest. In a site of Tear Jerkers, this horror story stood out. Today, I looked at the front page of Gives Me Hope and discovered this. Happy ending.
 * This troper should probably stop reading this page at school before I start crying, but whatever.
 * During the Newburgh Conspiracy, many officers in the Continental Army were greatly displeased that they hadn't received any pay for years. They were all for revolting against the Congress. George Washington was called in to help stop the uprising, hoping that he could persuade the officers who had once served under him. After his short but impassioned speech to convince them, many of them were still not swayed, still holding resentment towards Congress and towards their leader. So, Washington took out a letter from a member of the Congress to read to them. However, he fumbled over the first few words. Then, he took out a pair of glasses, shocking the officers, for there were few who had seen Washington wear glasses before. And he told them.

"Paris: "I just wanted to say, ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you can imagine. I just wanted to say I love him so much." T_T"
 * This caused the officers to realize how much Washington had sacrificed much for the Revolution, just as much as any of them. Many of them were shamed and moved to tears. Washington finished reading the letter and left the room, effectively stopping the conspiracy and the revolt.
 * Michael Jackson's memorial service. Just, his memorial service. From touching speeches to perfomances that will give you goosebumps as well as a little joke or two, this is probably the best show Michael could ever wish for, as he sits on top of the clouds with a huge smile on his face. Amen.
 * The speech from MJ's daughter Paris is probably the best part of the event.

"Rev Sharpton: "I want his three children to know that there wasn't nothing strange about their daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with but he dealt with it.""
 * Here's another one from Rev. Al Sharpton, who received one of the biggest ovations after he told Jackson's children to disregard the lurid stories that often swirled around the man disparaged by tabloid critics as "Wacko Jacko":

"Brooke Shields: "He was caring and funny, honest, pure, non-jaded and a lover of life.""
 * Here's one from Brooke Shields:

"Jermaine: "As you know, I am lost for words. I was his voice and his backbone. I had his back. So did the family. But we thank you. That's all I can say. We thank you very much." Marlon: "We will never understand what he endured, never being able to walk across the street without a crowd gathering. Maybe now, Michael, they will leave you alone.""
 * Don't forget his brothers:

""I do hope this year's batch of Gryffindors are up to scratch," said Nearly Headless Nick, applauding as "McDonald, Natalie!" joined the Gryffindor table."
 * Adding to the heartwarming moment is when Jermaine sang the Charlie Chaplin (he wrote it, not Nat King Cole) song, "Smile" right after Brooke Shields' speech. He did the exact opposite.
 * A mass group hug from Auntie Janet, Auntie Rebbie, Uncle Marlon, Uncle Jermaine, Uncle Tito, Uncle Randy, Uncle Jackie and Auntie Latoya to Paris after her speech. Awwww....
 * STEVIE WONDER of all people performed two songs he wished he could perform to his older peers during their funerals, but he ended up with no choice to but to perform to a performer who is 8 years younger than him. The songs? "Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer" and "They Won't Go When I Go". Awww....
 * Usher kowtowing to Mama and Papa Jackson, right after performing a song that best sums up the biggest entertainment headline of 2009, "GONE TOO SOON".
 * This troper's cousin, who is in the LAPD, was part of the security for the funeral. He told me that he was amazed at how reverent and peaceful the mourners were.
 * This troper's roommate went to the memorial, and commended it as the best concert ever.
 * Not even the memorial service though can top the hordes of people lining the streets and record shops right after his death. All those people dancing and singing along to his music, really shows you just how much he was loved even after all the jokes started, and all his problems later in life.
 * At the very end of This Is It, they have the MJJ logo: Michael's legs walking onto screen to do a quick dance and end on his toes, with the addition of a cheering crowd and Michael's laughter.
 * Watching how hard he was working on that show, how much he was looking forward to the tour, and realizing he'd never enjoy the comeback he deserved - or just experience the performance, like he wanted to - broke me up at the very end after getting teary partway through.
 * Tying into this - Jon Stewart pointed out the various news networks still using the "Wacko Jacko" nickname, and asked that there be a moratorium put on stuff like that in the wake of a person's death.
 * A young girl named Natalie McDonald who was dying of cancer wrote to JK Rowling, who surprised her with a phone call. She wanted to know how the series was going to turn out since she wouldn't live to see the last books published. Rowling read the girl some of her notes about the rest of the series, and gave Natalie a place in Gryffindor House. From Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire:


 * Along the same line - in 1985, a teenager named Kenny Sykaluk was dying from Cystic Fibrosis. His mother wrote a fan letter to his favorite band, Journey, on his behalf via Make A Wish. The band was stressed to hell, the members were constantly fighting, and they were on the verge of breakup. They sucked it up and presented a united front at the dying fan's bedside, and handed him a walkman with a demo of "Only the Young". Kenny was the first person outside the band to hear the single. Kenny's last conscious act was putting on the headphones and playing the song. He died peacefully, walkman in hand. The humbled rockers were so profoundly affected that they stopped their arguments and kept the band together.
 * Oh my God. From the Wikipedia article linked to above: "[Jonathan] Cain broke down in tears recalling the event, remarking that 'children should not have to live with that kind of pain'." Once you find out that Jonathan Cain was one of the smallest survivors of the Our Lady of the Angels Catholic school fire, which killed 92 children and 3 nuns who were teachers at the school -- that quote is arguably Harsher in Hindsight.
 * Jim Varney never once failed to fulfill a request to come to children's hospitals and perform as Earnest.
 * In that same vein, Johnny Depp once visited a children's hospital dressed as Jack Sparrow. He also donated 2.2 million dollars to that same hospital to repay them for taking such good care of his daughter when her Kidneys failed.
 * Captain Jack Sparrow. This time, he earned it.
 * This 'Improv Everywhere' story. there's something definately heartwarming about getting a bunch of total strangers to sing Happy Birthday, and then play Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey together. On a subway.
 * Pfft. Improv Everywhere are capable of far better than that:
 * High Five Escalator – similar to Free Hugs, Rob wants to give a high five to each commuter as they pass him on the escalator.
 * Welcome Back – a welcoming party surprises complete strangers by waiting at the airport with banners, balloons and flowers.
 * Ted's Birthday – another random stranger finds himself unexpectedly celebrating his birthday, with plenty of guests who pretend to know him and bring gifts. It get's really good when "Ted" gets into it and starts playing along, totally freaking out his real friend in the process.
 * And if you thought they were good, check out Improv Everywhere's true crowning moments:
 * Surprise Wedding Reception – the IE team picked a couple which was being married by the City and threw a surprise wedding reception in the middle of Manhattan, complete with 50 "guests", cake and gifts.
 * Best Game Ever – they turn a Little League baseball game into a Major League game by filling the (usually empty) bleachers with die-hard fans, mascots and snack vendors and setting up a Jumbotron. Not only that, but NBC were there to call the game and the Goodyear blimp arrivied with messages of support for the two teams. None of the kids nor their parents had any idea what they were in for.
 * I'd argue that everything Improv Everywhere does is this, because their entire goal to get a good reaction from people. It can be from a random musical, a fake concert, or wacky antics, but no matter what it breaks through to them and makes anyone watching have a day that is just that much better.
 * A (comparatively) small example: Elvis Presley was once in a diner somewhere in California. One of the waitresses impressed him so much, he left a rather large tip. How large? Brand-new Cadillac large.
 * The group hug at the end of this video.
 * Oct. 2, 2009, Rio de Janeiro is awarded the Olympics for the first time ever. You can see grown men and women, middle-aged, even elderly representatives, actually dogpiling on each other from pure joy and excitement. This American troper is not ashamed to admit she teared up at the sight.
 * At Bot Con 09, Peter Cullen made an appearance, along with other people who were in the then-upcoming Revenge of the Fallen. There was no small amount of praise for his distinctive work as the voice of Optimus Prime, but the most touching was from Omar Epps, who let on that he came from a single-parent home, and that Optimus was the closest thing he had to a father growing up.
 * Remembrance Day, celebrated in many places across the Commonwealth of Nations, and several outside of it. Entire countries coming to a complete halt for two minutes to remember every one of its citizens killed in armed conflict for the last hundred years makes it hard to hate the place.
 * Along those lines, this video. Makes me tear up every time.
 * At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, when Taylor Swift went up on stage to accept her Moonman for Best Female Video, she was rudely interrupted by Kanye West, who infamously declared that "Beyonce had the best video of all time!" So when Beyonce herself wins the award for Video of the Year, what does she do? Rather than deliver the acceptance speech that she had prepared, she invited Taylor back on stage to finish hers. This troper instantly became a fan of Beyonce's after that class act.
 * Rick Allen's career is one giant one. Most bands let people go if they become crippled while in the band. Def Leppard didn't. After losing his left arm in a car crash, drummer Allen had a special drum set made for him with pedals that played pre-recorded drum noises. Twenty-five years later at the 2009 Download Festival and headlining the last day (which was at the same site they played their first live show after Allen's accident), lead singer Joe Elliot dedicated the entire set to Allen resulting in a good five minutes of cheering and bringing Allen to tears cause of the power of it.
 * There was a video (which I cannot find right now) in which the band talked about the accident and Rick Allen's return to the band. The crowning moment was when Joe Elliot said that sometimes, while he faced away from Rick and looked at the crowd, he would hear the drums and would almost forget that Rick Allen lost his arm because he still managed to play just as well as any other drummer.
 * For Martin Scorsese, the failure of his dark 1977 musical New York, New York drove him into depression, and he had grown seriously addicted to cocaine around the same time, which is obviously not a good combination, and in fact led to a near-fatal overdose. Now the Heartwarming part comes in: Robert De Niro visited Scorsese in the hospital after the overdose and showed him Jake La Motta's book 'Raging Bull: My Story': "We need to make this." Raging Bull went on to be one of Scorsese's most beloved films, and the director has said ever since that De Niro saved his life with that visit.
 * On an episode of The Rosie O'Donnell Show, Rosie invited Sally Jessie Raphael on her show, planning to discuss crafts with her. Turned out, Rosie's idea of a craft was knitting or decoupage where Sally's idea of a craft was building a chimney. They had a little debate on what makes a home- the decorative touches or the bricks and mortar. They decided to settle the debate by teaming up with Martha Stewart, Bob Villa and Habitat for Humanity to build a house. When they saw how happy a single mother was to finally have a place to live with her son, they completely forgot their quarrel.
 * This troper was warmed to the core by this report from Wired. Will Pike was badly injured during a terrorist attack in Mumbai, and had to be hospitalized. As a result, he was unable to attend an Eddie Izzard stand-up performance that he had bought tickets for before his trip to Mumbai. His father wrote Izzard, asking if the comedian would send his son an autographed picture or something. Instead, Izzard visited Pike in the hospital and performed his entire stand-up routine for him. That's what I call "Executive Transvestite"!
 * Another "Eddie Izzard is a true hero of humankind" moment was when he decided to run all around the United Kingdom to raise money for Sport Relief. He had never really run before and only trained for a few weeks before setting out to run 43 marathon-sized lengths in 51 days. He ran through painful blisters, cuts, and cracks on his feet, his muscles cramped up to the point where he was having to take daily ice baths, and he had to consume so many calories to keep his energy level up that it almost made him feel ill, but he did it.
 * Have some tissues ready for this one. http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/11/04/today-in-20-second-operas-played-entirely-on-a-little-girls-face
 * Will Phillips, the 10-year-old who stood up for the rights of gays by refusing to stand for the pledge of allegiance and who rationally and articulately defended his statement on national television.
 * That's Awesome, too. Here we see a 10-year-old arguing for gay rights in Arkansas, a pretty conservative state. Some adults lack the guts this little fellow has.
 * Honestly, that made this gay troper cry from a mixture of inspiration and shame from not having had the courage to do what that boy did. He sets an example for us all.
 * Poor little Louis XVII, the ill-fated son of Marie Antoinette. He was only eight when he was yanked from his mother's arms, imprisoned in solitary confinement, abused, and brainwashed into accusing his mother of sexually abusing him, and repeatedly taunted by his holders that his parents no longer loved him. He finally died of tuberculosis at the age of ten. The examining physician who surveyed his whipped, beaten body cut out his heart, who smuggled and preserved it until he returned to his relatives, who could bring not themselves to believe it belonged to their nephew. Later, after extensive DNA testing, the petrified organ of Louis XVII was finally laid to rest with his parents and given an extravagent funeral - http://www.mirabilis.ca/archives/001805.html

"Woman: Please gives these to the widows in New York. I know it isn't much, but it is all I have."
 * BMC from Steve Jackson Games' Pyramid forums who uses his skill with crane machines to make one family's most miserable night just a little better.
 * Greg Mortensen, author of Three Cups of Tea and advocate for girls' education in Afghanistan, came to speak in my town a while back. The most heartwarming story of the day (and possibly that I've heard my entire life) was only weeks after the September 11th attacks. He went to Afghanistan, and a woman in a hijab came up to him, and handed him a pair of eggs. For a minute, he was baffled. Then:

""My grandma used to sit down and talk to me, she said I want you to be a Southern gentleman, and she still talks to me, only now in my dreams. And I can't wait to go to sleep tonight because we've got a lot to talk about. I love you.""
 * Although this is now much Harsher in Hindsight, since Mortensen has been accused of literary fraud.
 * In what appears to be another 'Nintendo 64 Kid', this boy's reaction to getting a XBox360 of absolute gratitude is just amazing. (Note: The video title says Christmas, but it's actually his birthday.)
 * FYI, it's easy to be cynical here – a kid getting an X Box may seem trivial compared to the other examples on this page – but just watch the video. These kids are truly adorable (the boy's sister is so happy for him too).
 * Kevin Conroy, the voice of Batman, aided the September 11 relief efforts by volunteering to cook for the firefighters and officers. He thought nobody would know who he was, but after one of the other cooks found out he was Batman's voice, he asked if he could tell everyone. The other cook then urged Conroy to yell out the iconic line, "I am vengeance! I am the night! I. Am. Batman!" Everyone cheered and came up to him saying how they were fans of Batman or used to watch the show with their kids, and he said it was the first time he'd seen people smile or laugh in the week since the attack. Amazing how the Dark Knight can brighten everyone's day.
 * All You Need Is Love http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1926917
 * This.
 * I aready had sore eyes by reading through the whole lot of entries in here and I can genuinely say I am not easy to move, yet alone make me cry, but this one made me choke up and pressed the only tear I had thus far in this entire section. And I know it sounds cheezy, but it was a Single Tear
 * Drive Thru RPG added $5 and $10 donation links for Doctors Without Borders to their online shopping cart immediately after the quake. Then several of the game publishers who sell through the site started asking what they could do to help. What they wound up with was a bundle of over $1000 worth of free downloads (donated by the publishers) as an incentive to make a $20 donation to Doctors Without Borders through the Drive Thru site. When the bundle offer ended at the end of January 2010, they had raised $178,900.
 * Lady Gaga's interview with Barbara Walters where she says that she felt like a freak when she was younger and genuinely sympathizes with people who feel that way.
 * Immediately after the events of 9/11, Operation Yellow Ribbon took place, where Transport Canada re-routed all American flights (there was about 500) and directed them to 17 different airports in Canada. These airports pretty much received 1-2 airplanes per minute, leaaving them quite a job to land these planes and get all these people through immigration and customs. Then, there was also the difficulty of performing a security sweep over each plane and feeding and housing all the passengers and crew. The Canadian government, both federal and provincial, stepped up to accomodate their visitors into hotels, schools, gymnasiums, wherever and tried their best to make them as comfortable as possible. The efforts of the Canadians would later get thanks from the US Transportation Secretary at a White House briefing that "we owe our Canadian neighbours a debt of gratitude for helping us as we redirected...flights and their passengers to airports in Canada."
 * Lufthansa showed their appreciation by naming one of their longhaul aircraft "Gander-Halifax". It was the first aircraft in their fleet, to be named after a location outside Germany, since they started naming their aircraft in 1960.
 * Jamie Foxx's acceptance speech of winning Best Actor during the 77th Academy Awards, as he spoke of his deceased grandmother, who he said was his first acting teacher.

"Hello Neil and Buzz. I'm talking to you by telephone from the Oval Room at the White House. And this certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made. I just can't tell you how proud we all are of what you've done. For every American, this has to be the proudest day of our lives. And for people all over the world, I am sure they too join with Americans in recognizing what an immense feat this is. Because of what you have done, the heavens have become a part of man's world. And as you talk to us from the Sea of Tranquility, it inspires us to redouble our efforts to bring peace and tranquility to Earth. For one priceless moment in the whole history of man, all the people on this Earth are truly one. One in their pride in what you have done. And one in our prayers that you will return safely to Earth."
 * Frizznets, isn't anyone going to talk about the first EDSA Revolution? Crowning Moment of Awesome and Crowning Moment of Heartwarming in one, 'cause not a single person died and the dictator Marcos fled in the end!
 * The huge genuine smile on Sahil Saeed's face, playing with his father and sister after his safe return from being kidnapped. And the fact that he was freed with no worse harm than a shaved head and the loss of his shoes, when it could have been a tragedy.
 * Three words: Princess Diana's Funeral. It may cross more into Tear Jerker territory, but when you think of the end of the funeral, with everyone applauding and throwing flowers....
 * The Carnation Revolution in 1974 in Portugal. A left-leaning military revolution toppeled the oldest authoritarian regime in Western Europe. The people responded by flooding the streets with celebrations. Carnations happened to be in season, and the people gave them to the rebelling soldiers, who promptly placed them in their gun barrels. Portugal would be a democracy within two years.
 * I'm Portguese and couldn't help thank you guys for actually mentioning this day. I'd also like to say the most heartwarming thing is perhaps the reason for its name: several soldiers during the celebration took carnations and placed them in the barrel of their guns, as they celebrated with the people they had just freed. That and the song used by the movement to signal the start of the revolution Grândola, Vila Morena.
 * Allow me to add an impromptu translation into English I just made for the - beautiful - lyrics. Consider it my personal thanks, as a Brazilian translator . For my country was also a dictatorship once, and this moment you helped me recall made me realize that Lawful Evil doesn't endure.
 * Philip Spooner, an 87-year-old WWII vet, made a speech in support of same-sex marriage in Maine. "I am here because of a conversation I had last June. A woman at my polls asked me if I believed in equality for gay and lesbian people. I was pretty surprised to be asked a question like that. It made no sense to me. Finally, I asked her, 'what do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach?'" We salute you, Mr Spooner.
 * People like that make me proud to be a Mainer. Heck, they make me proud to be American.
 * Hell, proud to be human.
 * This thread on Transformers fan forum The Allspark is a Crowning Moment of both Awesome and Heartwarming for the Transformers fandom as a whole. The story: A fan found an eBay auction for an old toy catalog (featuring early prototype toys--fascinating stuff to a Transformers fan). People discussed the possibility of 100 fans pitching in $5 each, buying the catalog as a group, and scanning its pages for all to see, and one guy decided to take charge. Things quickly got out of hand, and what had started as a nice team effort to make a piece of toy collecting history public... turned into an amazing spur-of-the-moment charity drive that, over the course of five days including what little planning there was, raised $2340 to donate to Hasbro Children's Hospital, on top of the $395 they ultimately paid for the catalog. Never has this troper felt so proud of his fandom.
 * The Americans, an editorial by a Canadian passionately defending America from other countries' bashing...in 1973.
 * When Sylvia Plath killed herself in 1962 by inhaling the fumes from her gas oven, she laid out breakfast for her two children, opened their bedroom window, and sealed the cracks around their door. She lost the will to live months before she went through with killing herself, but she still cared enough about her children to protect them.
 * As with some others, YMMV on that...considering that by doing so, she basically made sure the first thing her children would start the day with is finding out their mother had killed herself.
 * Given that she was suffering from extreme depression, a mental state which does not lend itself to rational thinking, the very fact that she was together enough to do what she did tips it over, albeit in a bittersweet fashion.
 * In 1856, Brigham Young learned that the members of the Willey and Martin handcart companies were dying in a terrible blizzard. It happened to coincide with the semiannual General Conference where church members would gather to listen to their leaders. He stated that it was more important for them to live the principles of their religion rather than to talk about them, cancelled General Conference, and organized a rescue mission.
 * When a 6.3 earthquake shattered the city of Santa Barbara, a resident who was a member of Aimee Semple Mc_Pherson's Foursquare Church managed to get through to the church's Los Angeles center on the phone before the lines went dead. While the Red Cross held meetings to debate what kind of relief to send and how much, Sister Aimee was supervising the dispatch of trucks loaded with water, food, blankets, etc. As the Red Cross heaved into action, Sister was just sending off the second convoy from the church.
 * The plaque of the Apollo 11 moon mission reads: "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon July 1969, A.D. We came in peace for all mankind". For all mankind. I don't think that requires any further explanation.
 * President Nixon's phone call to the moon during the mission on the surface. The landing was a Crowning Moment of Awesome. The telephone call, especially for persons who value the logical and miraculous mind of man, is definitely the Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.

"We had already finished this song that was based on general correspondences to & from the soldiers serving in Iraq, when we were contacted by the family of Sgt. Andrew Farrar who had recently died while serving there. The family wanted to tell us he was a big supporter of the Dropkick Murphys. They also passed on a letter that he had written to his mother shortly before his death in which he thanks her for sending him a Dropkick Murphys CD & said that if anything should happen to him while in Iraq, he would like one of our songs played at his funeral. He also left behind a wife, Melissa and two young boys Tyler & Liam. His tour of duty in Iraq was coming to an end & he was due to come home & renew his wedding vows with Melissa to another song of ours, "Forever". Sgt Farrar died on January 28th, on his 31st birthday. We were present at his funeral to grant his wish and played "Fields of Athenry" as his casket entered the church. This song was re-written to include excerpts from that letter."
 * The Challenger and Columbia memorials at Arlington Natl. Cemetery. "They touched the face of God" indeed.
 * Dropkick Murphys, From the Other Wiki: The song, "Last Letter Home" contains excerpts from personal letters between Sgt. Andrew Farrar, his mother and his wife. The following is taken from the album notes:

"Abraham Lincoln, whose lonely soul God kindled, is here remembered by a people, their conflict healed by the truth that marches on."
 * The band released a single, with the family's permission, including the Andrew Farrar-dedicated "Fields Of Athenry" and "The Last Letter Home". All proceeds went to the Farrar family.
 * "My number was 83317. I am a Holocaust survivor. It's a long way from Auschwitz to this stage."
 * This
 * That is also found in The Power of Love page.
 * Every once in great while, the infamous 4chan does something right. Grumble and snark they always will, and indeed did here. But when the chips are down, most of the Anons are actually decent human beings.
 * In case anyone is wondering, they succeeded in getting the cancer research idea to #1 and it won the $250K grant.
 * Emperor Norton of San Francisco. A man with still-unknown psychological problems (though it is believed that he lost his entire net worth in the stock market, which mentally shattered him.) declares himself Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, and the whole of San Francisco went along with it. When a policeman tried to arrest him and have him committed, the city was so outraged that he was immediately released (and formally 'pardoned' the officer). The most expensive restaurants would feed him for free so they could put up plaques saying they had Imperial approval. He even issued his own money, which was counted as legal currency within the city. When his Imperial uniform grew shabby, the city council replaced it, and when he died, 30,000 people lined the streets to mourn him--out of a city population of around 230,000. His tombstone even reads "Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico". The city of San Francisco took this eccentric, psychologically troubled man and made him their mascot, and let him be to them what he believed he was. If that's not heartwarming, I don't know what is.
 * Norton's release from the police was summed up rather beautifully by their chief: "He had shed no blood; robbed no one; and despoiled no country; which is more than can be said of his fellows in that line."
 * Norton was so heartwarming and awesome that the Discordians made him a saint.
 * This. The time and effort it took Guo Yiming to do all the painstaking work to find his friend's remains...just, just damn.
 * Erik Martin, a 13 year old cancer patient, rescued the Seattle Sounders, saved the city from super villainy, and was presented with the key to the city, doubling as a Crowning Moment of Awesome for both him and the Make A Wish Foundation.
 * The inscription on the memorial to Abraham Lincoln at Washington National Cathedral never fails to choke this troper up.

"Stephen: Am I cool now? Madeline: *nodding with happy tears in her eyes*"
 * This video about Canada and America's relationship.
 * You couldn't ask for a better neighbor than Canada. For all the abuse they sometimes get down here, they are probably our most loyal ally. Another example
 * And also the words of the Canadian ambassador of the United States to Americans. "You are our friends and together we are family – you do not suffer alone."
 * This Canadian troper has never been prouder to look to the United States as trusted ally, and beloved friend. Thank you.
 * From a YouTube commenter: "This really makes me appreciate and respect our relationship so much more. Sure we give each other crap all the time, stereo-typical crap,﻿ but brothers do tend to pick on each other from time to time. That's what we Canada, and the US are. Brothers."
 * This troper is a member of the US military, and I will trust a Canadian as soon as I will trust an American in any duty that must be fulfilled. We could stand against the world together. We are more then partners, allies or brothers. The USA and Canada are truly one.
 * Nobody mentioned ex-President Corazon Aquino's funeral? Filipinos everywhere united as one, whether they were Muslim or Catholic, just to pay their respects to one of the most beloved and respected women in the country.
 * "To those who saved the world."
 * It's a painful one, though. Plus, that statue was paid for, not by the government who sent them in, but by families, friends and random donators.
 * This year's Interval Act for Eurovision 2010. This troper doesn't care if some of the filming was maybe pre-recorded, it gave such brilliant chills to know that the whole of Europe had got together to dance, that they were uniting and just for seven blessed minutes forgetting all differences and just plain dancing for the pure joy of it made this troper very glad that they live in that very continent. Also counts as a Crowning Moment of Awesome, as it was the most spectacular event to happen that evening by far.
 * Also, Germany winning Eurovision 2010. This Troper has never seen her German friends so happy before.
 * Alan Rickman's relationship with his girlfriend, Rima Horton, has always gotten an "aww!" from this troper. For one, they've been together since 1965 (45 years, fyi). For another, this picture; my God, if that doesn't scream "love," I don't know what does. For a third, and also a Crowning Moment of Awesome for him, this interviewer asked Alan why he and Rima never had children. When he answered "I'm not the only one involved,", the interviewer asked if he'd ever thought of running off and starting a family with a young, nubile starlet. Alan's answer? A very firm, resounding "No." * melts* Especially when you consider that we only tend to hear about stars throwing their partners aside whenever things get a little rough, I think their relationship is this trope.
 * For that matter, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, who were practically the poster couple for They All Said We Never Could Be Happy. They've now been married 28 years. When Sharon had colon cancer and was at her most depressed, Ozzy asked Robin Williams, her favorite actor, to come and cheer her up--and he did, earning his own Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.
 * Free Hugs in China. Incredibly heartwarming, especially considering the place and how private people are in Chinese society. That bit with the kid being picked up and hugged makes this troper go 'awww'.
 * An equally heartwarming moment was when one of the girls hugged an elderly lady. At first, she stared at the girl, while presumably her daughter was explaining what was happening. Then, she opened her arms and gave the girl a hug. And you could see the girl kissing her on the cheek before they pull apart.
 * A recent meme started up on the internet called "Sad Keanu", showing a Photoshopped picture of a downcast-looking Keanu Reeves sitting on a bench by himself. A few people on the internet learned that Keanu Reeves' life hasn't always been easy, so they declared June 15, 2010 "Cheer Up Keanu Day" and started a campaign to send him gifts, fan letters, and donations to the American Cancer Society (since his sister has leukemia). There's also a website where people submitted messages of gratitude, encouragement, and admiration to Reeves. Even a couple of members of Anonymous joined in to tell him what a stand-up guy he is.
 * One of many 9/11 stories of strangers helping each other, or just keeping each other sane when the world goes mad. Happy birthday, Don, wherever you are.
 * The story of the man with the red bandana. A man in the south tower fixed a red bandana over his nose and mouth as the tower burned. He went to as many floors as he could, helping people find stairs, extinguishing fires, dragging people from debris so they could escape; again and again he left the stairwell to enter floors that had not yet been cleared... He died when the tower collapsed, still saving people. Link here. Or search for bandana man, 9/11.
 * I'm not sure if I've just missed it - has anyone mentioned Lawrence Oates yet? You know, Captain "I'm just going outside and may be some time" Oates?
 * To clarify: Captain Lawrence Oates was a member of the ill fated Terra Nova Expedition. After weeks of enduring sub-zero temperatures whilst trudging kilometers in the featureless wasteland they finally and successfully reach the South Pole only to find that they had been beaten there by 35 days. So the Party began their return to base camp. However on the way they were beset by problems and one of their number (Edgar Evans) died due to injuries sustained falling down a crevasse. They tried to press on but a massive blizzard had impeded their progress. Oates, who had sustained severe frostbite on one of his feet knew he was slowing down the expedition and as there was limited food left to get to the resource station he knew if they did not make it there on time all would perish. So one morning he woke up, painfully put on his shoes and clothes, turned to his adventuring companions (some who had wives and children) and said "I am just going outside and may be some time". The rest of the party understood what it is he was saying. Those were the last words of Captain Lawrence Oates. He turned and walked into the blizzard thinking to himself that his sacrifice would bring the men of the expedition home to Britain. Unfortunately he was wrong. The party never made it back to base camp and the only reason we know of this is that is recorded in the diary of Robert Scott, leader of the expedition. Captain Oates' body has never been found.
 * At the 2010 Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) races a rider, Paul Dobbs, crashed. His close friend Paul Owen was ten seconds behind him. The two of them were very competitive with each other, but upon seeing the waved yellow flags Paul Owen stopped his bike, gave up his own race completely and grabbed the flag from the flag marshal waving it so that he could go help provide assistance to his crashed friend. Paul Dobbs didn't survive, but Paul Owen received the inaugral 'Spirit of the TT' award for his actions.
 * During the 1992 Belgium Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, driver Erik Comas had a serious crash. Comas was rendered unconscious with his foot still pinned on the throttle, still pumping fuel through the engine. Ayrton Senna, who was fast approaching, stopped, left his car and ran across the track to Comas. He turned off the electronic kill switch in Comas's car to prevent a fire, thus saving the driver's life. Senna did all this whilst other drivers were speeding past him at breakneck speed, putting himself at serious risk. Senna was known to be a fiercely competitive driver who never settled for second place. He often ran into rivals, such as Alain Prost, to take them out of the race. Senna's selflessness extended to him donating millions of his personal fortune to numerous children's charities in his home country of Brazil.
 * Roger Ebert claimed that video games could never be True Art. That post received over 4500 responses and prompted gamers around the world to share every emotional response they had ever had from a game. Ebert's eventual response: "I had to be prepared to agree that gamers can have an experience that, for them, is Art. I don't know what they can learn about another human being that way, no matter how much they learn about Human Nature. I don't know if they can be inspired to transcend themselves. Perhaps they can."
 * After scoring what would be the winning goal for Spain in the finals of the 2010 World Cup, Andres Iniesta removed his shirt to reveal a white T-shirt with the message "Dani Jarque siempre con nosotros (Dani Jarque always with us)" written on it. Jarque, Iniesta's close friend, passed away from a heart attack before a preseason game against Italy in 2009. Rest assured, he's applauding you right now, Andres.
 * A Holocaust survivor, his daughter, and his grandchildren, dance at the former sites of concentration camps to "I Will Survive".
 * "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by APRA." ...Seriously? That's just really sad.
 * It can now be found here.
 * "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Universal Music Publishing." What.
 * It's back again! It's been reposted. Get it here.
 * This video, just, this video. A chorus of school children singing Still Alive.
 * "Surfing for Peace" is an organization founded by Jewish American surf guru Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz. Their goal: to promote friendship and understanding between Israelis and Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip. How? By delivering surf boards and wetsuits across the nearly-impenetrable border to the Gaza Surf Club. The two groups hope to surf together one day.
 * Jim Valvano's ESPY speech after winning the Arthur Ashe Award. As he says, he's got tumors all over his body, and yet he's nothing but encouraging and positive. Mr. Valvano, your mind, heart, and soul WILL live on forever.
 * A little old, but however: Wesley Autrey. A man suffering from a seizure fell onto subway tracks, in the path of an oncoming train. Autrey leapt down, and pressed the man into the foot deep pit below the tracks as the train passed overhead. Both men survived.
 * Acts of heroism never get old.
 * The Dominic Deegan Forum on Keenspot was threatened. This thread was created to commemorated the death of the forum, and somehow turned into the such a sweet, and emotional thread that the admins chose NOT to take down the forum.
 * In her memoir Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady, Florence King wrote about an experience she had when she was a grad student at Ole Miss, during the last few years of the 1950s. She'd had an affair with another woman, and it had ended very badly (her lover had taken offense when Florence, instead of getting a grant as her lover had advised her to do, had raised the money for her next year's studies by writing and selling true-confession stories.) Florence had just gotten word that this woman, with whom she was still in love, had been killed in a car wreck along with her newest lover. She was working in her dorm when a couple of undergraduates, one of them the reigning Queen Bee of the undergraduate women, walked by. The other girl said something rude, and the next thing Florence heard was: "You shut your filthy mouth, you white-trash WHORE!" and an echoing slap. Later on, when she was packing to go home, she found a note from the Alpha Bitch in her things, saying that she'd fixed it so that nobody gave Florence any grief whatsoever. Keep in mind, this is about a decade before Stonewall, and Gay Rights was literally unimaginable. But Florence had, the previous year, saved the Queen Bee's academic bacon by helping her with her French (the girl wasn't stupid but just couldn't get foreign languages, while Florence had studied French for years) and, whatever her other faults, the Queen Bee was a Southern gentlewoman...and she knew that she owed Florence her academic career. She didn't say anything directly to Florence...she just "did right," as they say around those parts.
 * Some of these Social Experiments often have some Humans Are Bastards / Humans Are Flawed moments. But then again, there are those who chose to act differently.
 * Koua Fong Lee: In 2006, he was returning from Church with his pregnant wife and three kids when his car suddenly accelerated and crashed into another car. Two people in the other car, one child and one adult, died. One girl in the other car was crippled and died a few years later. Lee insisted from the get-go that he had been pressing the brakes, but they hadn't responded. His Amoral Attorney didn't really try, and he ended up with an eight-year prison sentence. In 2010, he was finally freed from prison, and cleared of all charges. Full story here.
 * Sadly, these deaths related to this case could have been prevented because they were three of the 35 deaths attributed to the brake failures that have led to the Toyota vehicle recalls that have gone on since 2009.
 * Proof that even Russia has its moments. A young man, depressed over his fiancee dying the day before their wedding, decides to end it all by jumping off a bridge. When he got there he found a young woman in the process of climbing over the railing and stops her. They spent the night talking, fell in love and are now planning on getting married.
 * Tat Wood, a much-respected writer of Doctor Who non-fiction and fanzines, sent out a desperate plea in late 2009 after a bill for several hundred pounds was due from the owners of the storage facility where he kept his archive of books, magazines, video tapes and many hundreds of other items. Having been without a permanent address or regular work for over a year and thus having failed to scrape together the money on his own, he added that if the bill were not paid in four days, the entire contents would be destroyed, effectively ending his writing career. Wood was asking for a few pounds each from enyone who had enjoyed his books and newsletters, and hoped to reach the target on time. This troper passed the e-mail to friends through a private message board. Three hours later, one person had covered the entire amount from his own pocket. Another offered the use of his garage as a replacement storage facilty. Neither asked for anything in return.
 * On a related note to the Christmas Truce of 1914, the ANZAC and Turkish soldiers were rather magnanimous to each other considering they were trying to kill each other. Both sides would routinely negotiate truces where medics and stretcher bearers would emerge from the trenches and recover the wounded and the dead - regardless of which side they were on. Exchanges were common. There were also places where the trenches were so close together that you could easily lob a grenade into the adjacent trench. Occassionally they'd toss over food tins as well.
 * This troper went on a tour of Gallipoli, and while the whole thing was nerve wracking and more painful than I expected, the best part of the whole tour was when the guide talked about how, as the Turks constructed the graveyard for their troops, they came across two dead bodies, a Turkish and a British soldier embracing even in death, after they'd both been killed by an artillary strike. It made the horribly long bus journey worth it just to hear that story.
 * This beautiful moment in China's Got Talent, when a man dressed in a pig suit made a complete fool out of himself. After his act was done, he explained that the only reason he came on that night was to give his wife a moment in the spotlights. Tears were shed.
 * /b/ finds out that a WWII vet is having a birthday. What do they do? They throw him a big birthday party with thousands of cards.
 * Video game developer Brian Wood dies in order to protect his pregnant wife and their unborn child. The response of video gamers? Set up a memorial trust fund, of course.
 * Large parts of the United States uniting against the 9/11/10 Koran burning plans.
 * Marilyn Monroe's second husband Joe DiMaggio who after her death arranged her funeral and would send half a dosen roses to her grave 3 times a week for the next 20 years until his death. He never remarried or talked publicly about Marilyn or exploited their relationship, unlike others. His last words were "I'll finally get to see Marilyn."
 * In 1995, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee recieved an anonymous letter containing a $1,000,000 gamepiece from the McDonald's Monopoly game. Normally the game rules prohibit the transfer of prizes. However, McDonald's waived the rule and has been making the annual $50,000 payment installments (due to end in 2015).
 * Keep in mind this occurred in a period of time when the winning gamepieces were controlled by a corrupt 'security company' that McDonald's had hired; the gangsters involved diverted the big prizes to buddies who were in on the scam. This piece was probably donated by someone with a guilty conscience. Still..... good on them.
 * The reaction of many after the Mount St. Helens eruption in 1980. Though they'd known it was going to blow, they couldn't predict exactly when, and as a result many motorists were caught off-guard--my uncle being one of them. The National Guard went out to find all the stranded motorists and take them to shelter, and he spent four days in a farmhouse with six other stranded people. He said the house's owners treated them all like family, and that when he met up with other people later most of them said the same thing--that so many people had unreservedly opened their homes to so many lost and scared strangers. Later, once the ash had cleared a little, the National Guard formed a motorcade to guide drivers over Steven's Pass so they could go home, and who were met on the other side in both directions by volunteers who just wanted to help people get where they were going safely. Humans really are, very occasionally, awesome.
 * Hayao Miyazaki made Ponyo On a Cliff By The Sea partly as an apology to his son. Sousuke and his mother Lisa were modeled after Miyazaki's son and wife, making Miyazaki the father who is Married to the Job. The scene where the father was sending Morse code messages to Sousuke and Lisa, telling him that "I'm sorry and I love you" was meant for Miyazaki's son and wife. *sniff*
 * Britney Spears thanking her fans: "I'm blessed with the most incredible, loyal, loving and passionate fans on the planet and I'm thankful for them every single day". After all she's done to the world and every success she's earnt and all the bad things she's been through, she still loves her fans. That is truely Heartwarming, especially to her fans.
 * Trisha and Krisna, joined at the head at birth and went through intense surgery to seperate them, their adopted mother had already adopted two boys from Iraq, one having no arms, the other no legs. The story really made me cry with the sheer raw love coming from this woman.
 * The rescue of the trapped Chilean miners. Also a Crowning Moment of Awesome for the miners, as they've all survived 69 days trapped underground - longer than anyone else in history has survived.
 * Breaking news: All 33 have been rescued now. a Crowning Moment of Awesome for the rescue team too.
 * Luis Urzua, the shift leader and The Captain through and through, was the last miner to be rescued. When he reached the surface the President of Chile told him: "Mr Urzua, your shift is over."
 * And the last rescuer just got brought up. Before he got in the capsule to be pulled out, he gave the camera a wave and a big bow.
 * The fact that at least seven foreign countries came to the aid of the miners. NASA build the rescue cages. Canada provided the drill for the main shaft. South Africa made the drill to provide supplies to the miners. Japan, Singapore and Korea provided two-way communication with the miners.
 * The reaction of the entire country when a note saying "The 33 of us are fine in the shelter.", confirming that everyone had survived. Also, a miner promised to marry his wife in church.
 * Esther Earl was one in human form. Here are a few examples of how she touched people's hearts.
 * Just a warning: if you've never heard of her before, get tissues before following the links.
 * Esther was a very close friend of this troper, and it really warms my heart to see that even here she has made an impact.
 * Every single "It Gets Better" video. Period. A few notable examples:
 * Joel Burns' epic speech. Warning: you will cry.
 * An empathetic Baptist Christian viewpoint.
 * U.S. President Barack Obama.
 * George Takei calling out former Arkansas School Board member Clint Mc_Cance on his douchebaggery. Arguably also counts as a CMoA for Takei.
 * And a CMoF, because he actually used the word "douchebag". Imagine George Takei's voice saying "douchebag", and try not to laugh. This troper dares you.
 * 35 members of the staff ofPixar. It's another one you'll need tissues for.
 * And on that note, this. So many people coming out in support of the movement. Just... whoa.
 * The fact that there's even sports teams that are coming out with their own It Gets Better ads in support. Thus far we have the San Francisco Giants (who started the whole wave), Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, Seattle sports teams (Mariners, Sounders, Storm, Seahawks), Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies, Tampa Bay Rays, DC United, and there are other teams whom are having them on the way including the Twins and Nationals. It makes This Troper begin to wonder if we will end up seeing an openly gay player in the US anytime within the next five to seven years.
 * Many major league clubs now have Gay Days. The Cubs' "Out at the Ballgame" actually began over ten years ago.
 * Seeing Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd hug each other at the Spike TV Scream Awards 2010.
 * And concidering that the younger of the two is the frailest? Holy christ!
 * "I hugged a man in his underwear. And I am proud."
 * What were you doing in his underwear?
 * Sorry, had to be done.
 * John Glenn was orbiting the Earth for the first time in 1962 when he approached the coast of Australia. He noted a bright patch and the nearest radio contact told him it must be Perth, Western Australia. Indeed it was; thousands of residents had turned on their lights so that their city could be seen from space. NASA dubbed them the "City of Light." 36 years later, Perth pulled the same trick when John Glenn was aboard the space shuttle Discovery. Even though he was in a much higher orbit, the city glowed brighter than ever.
 * A family was caught by the RIAA, and sued for piracy, after downloading several songs, including Sk8er Boi by Avril Lavigne, being forced to pay Over 9000 dollars(Well, 9000 exactly, but with legal fees...) to the RIAA. The family, distraught, sent a letter to MC Lars(A nerdcore rapper), citing one of his songs(Download This Song) as a reason why this shouldn't happen. MC Lars forwarded it to Nettwerk Music(Who, coincidentally, was also the label that Avril Lavigne was on there), and they teamed up together to fight against the RIAA and to get the charges dropped. That's right, a recording label fought for someone who pirated their own music because they thought it was the right thing to do.
 * The RIAA are the corporate owners and their lawyers; the actual record labels are often run by people who would love to stop the insanity. So would many of the artists.
 * JLS. You may have heard of them. You may like them. But you will definitly look at these boys differently when you see these Please remember that the little blonde girl sitting on the knee of one of the band is her younger sister. here is a news article from before JLS came to visit her, and it explains her illness.
 * A boss fires herself to keep her employees from losing their jobs.
 * The Ianto Jones memorial always brings a lump to this troper's throat as much as watching the actual death scene did. He's not even a real person and yet people cared enough not just to come from all over the country if not the world to leave their mark, but to raise over five thousand pounds in an online charity in the character's memory. Deaths in fiction may never have the weight and significance of deaths in real life but... damn. That's what storytelling does.
 * Stephen Colbert at the 2010 Grammys, while making a speech, made a recurring joke of asking his daughter, "Am I cool now?" She responds with various embarrassed shakes of her head. Upon winning best Comedy Album:

"“In the face of such a natural disaster, we needed to help as a humanitarian and Islamic requirement. Our planes will remain in your country until the fire is brought under control.”"
 * Article here.
 * In December 2010, a forest fire hit Haifa, Israel. As I am writing this on December 4th, the fire has been going for four days, yesterday's tally was 41 people dea, and many others missing and injured. Turkey and Israel have almost no diplomatic relations since Israel killed nine Turks boarding a ship in May. Turkey still sent aid. Their Prime Minister said:

""My friend was talking to a guy on the INTERNET WHO STARTED threatening that he would come to her house and hurt her she has 3 little brothers, ♥ all of whom slept on her floor and outside her door for a week with nerf guns and water guns to make sure their big sister feels safe""
 * Article Here
 * Even more heartwarming: who else helped? The Palestinians, that's who.
 * After the Columbine shootings, the country was desperate for an explanation as to what caused those kids' behavior. After darting from the usual group of Acceptable Targets, the name that kept getting dropped all over was that of Marilyn Manson. Aside from parrying the wild accusations (even the shooters had denounced him), Manson got his chance to speak his piece. He very clearly, very eloquently says what he has to say, culminating in one of the most moving quotes ever. Also Crowning Moment of Awesome material for Manson.
 * Similarly, Bill O Reilly once did a week-long series called "Children at Risk", where he interviewed popular music stars about the perceived negative effects that their music had on kids. Inevitably, he interviewed Marilyn Manson at one point. This is the conversation that resulted. Whether or not you like either of them, it's pretty damn heartwarming that two people so different could have a completely civil discussion, even when O'Reilly brought him on the show to condemn him. At the end of the interview, Marilyn freaking Manson looks O'Reilly in the eye and says, without any irony, "I respect you." Damn.
 * This video. An eight-month-old baby named Jonathan, who was born deaf, gets his cochlear implant turned on and he hears his mother's voice for the first time. The interaction is just awwwww!!
 * During the American Civil War, one soldier from Gray, Maine was killed in Cedar Mountain. When his parents sent away for his body, there was a mix-up, and they were given the body of a Confederate soldier instead... but they gave him an honourable burial anyway, despite him being on the other side, still respecting him as a person. They even decorate the grave with a Confederate flag for Memorial Day.
 * Egyptian Muslims attended a Coptic Christmas mass to serve as "human shields" against a potential terrorist attack. Article.
 * And now they return the favor by forming protective circles around Muslim protesters during Friday prayers.
 * This Mickey Mouse secret. -sniff-
 * Major Winters dies. Not the story, that is a prime example of a Tear Jerker. The Heartwarming is when one scrolls down to the comments and sees that for what will be the only time in the history of the human race, the comments section of a Yahoo article is filled entirely with respect, not a troll in sight, and a complete lack of the vile hatred, racism, political bullshit, bigotry, and militant athiesm cesspool of GIFT and jerkassery that is the entirety of every other Yahoo comments section in existance.
 * When he died, This Troper cried for him, even though she had never met him. To her, Easy Company is a treasure.
 * Sometimes you find yourself alone and confused in the dark. You'll be cold and lost in the storm. You grope outwards, hoping and praying that there's someone there, someone to make the pain recede. A friendly hand finds yours and holds tight. Another finds your arm, and another on your shoulder. Together, they pull you home.
 * When Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981, he jokingly told his surgeons before they went in to get the bullets that he hoped they were Republicans. According to the story, the person in charge of trauma at the time at George Washington University Hospital, Dr. Joseph Giordano, was a liberal Democrat. His answer? "Today, Mr. President, we're all Republicans."
 * His address the night of the Challenger disaster could be considered one as well, especially when he especially addressed the children of America, since so many children were watching the launch live due to the mission carrying teacher Christia Mc Auliffe.
 * John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney. Two all-time great rock and roll love stories.
 * The recent Japanese earthquake/tsunami disaster has everyone moving to help them. On the Anime fans side, they have compiled a list of the Japanese voice actors, manga artists and actors/actresses within hours of hearing about it.
 * Also Hetalia fans have already started a thread to show their sympathy. Within the first eight hours, over five hundred and thirteen paper cranes were made.
 * Several Kamen Rider actors also began posting online messages in-character to try and lift the spirits of children. Not ones to stop at just fighting off evil aliens, them.
 * Not just Kamen Riders, but also Super Sentai heroes, going as far back as Sun Vulcan, and other tokusatsu heroes as well!
 * What is even more heartwarming is the international reaction to it, especially concerning South Korea and China. Both countries have had a long-standing (and partially justified) dislike of the Japanese. When the earthquake struck however, they were among the first to send help, even though China had its own earthquake the day before. South Korea was also among the first to send rescuers and is providing boron to help with the Fukushima nuclear reactor.
 * Even more heartwarming, several Korean celebrities personally donated several million dollars to Japan. This includes the "Big Three" Korean entertainment companies and Girls' Generation who sent all proceeds from their single Mr. Taxi (released shortly after the quake). It's also rumored that the Korean pop groups operating in Japan at the time (Girls' Generation, KARA, and TVXQ, especially) anonymously donated tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars together.
 * Fan favorite seiyuu Norio Wakamoto was reportedly missing during the quake, but he eventually informed everyone that he's all right, and is already helping the other victims (since he used to be a police officer before turning seiyuu). He stated that the biggest one has yet to come, but he's ready to give his soul for the people. This act is what truly cements him to be a shining example of Mean Character, Nice Actor, if you consider his portfolio.
 * Some good news after the Japanese earthquake/tsunami tragedy.
 * Three words: Super Hero Time
 * Carl Sagan and The Blue Dot speech.
 * Found on one of the various "Like" pages floating around Facebook: "

""The point is that a person is driven to suicide by a whole bunch of different things, which build a wall around them, piece by piece, until the last piece falls into place and the wall is sealed so that there's no way out. Sometimes we look at all the problems that build up someone's wall of hopelessness and think there's no way any of the insignificant things we could do would be able to take it all down. But to break the illusion of there being no way out, you don't need to take down the whole wall, you just need to make one crack in it. One puppy lick, one phone call from Laila Ali, one corny song, one Internet stranger, one old Australian guy asking if you want to come in for a cup of tea. And one crack in that wall might be all it takes to turn things around and begin the long, tough job of tearing the whole thing down.""
 * Unknown person, your brothers are awesome.
 * This Chinese community officer saved the life of a jilted bride and responds with modesty.
 * Even in Texas, bystanders won't stand by when gays and lesbians are harassed.
 * Evanna Lynch's fangirlism of Rowling was connected with her anorexia. Lynch considered Rowling her counselor. Order of the Phoenix was coming out soon, and Lynch was afraid she would miss the release because she was hospitalized. Thankfully, the hospital got a copy from Rowling the day Order of the Phoenix was released. Years later, Lynch would become the ultimate Promoted Fangirl and star in the film version of Harry Potter as Luna.
 * For further Rowling related heart warming, read this open letter by Alan "Snape" Rickman.
 * Mark Grisanti and Stephen Saland, the two New York Republicans who crossed the aisle to legalize gay marriage in that state, especially Grisanti, who admitted that he was against it on a personal and religious level, but couldn't find a legal reason to justify the ban.
 * This tribute to earth. Whenever you feel caught up and stressed out about everyday life and its petty affairs, watch this video and you will instantly feel an incredible appreciation for the very ground that you walk upon. It's a reminder of what's really important - keeping our world alive so that our nonhuman neighbors will be able to live and thrive when we're gone.
 * In a procedural Moment of Heartwarming, the Australian House of Representatives expressed unanimous confidence in the speakership of Harry Jenkins, after losing a vote over a ruling almost cost him the chair. While this may seem stuffy, it was essentially the parliamentary procedure equivalent of a hug. The kicker? The Leader of the Opposition (who would normally be opposed to the Speaker's being in the chair) was the one who made the initial confidence motion.
 * This story is a few years old, but definitely counts. When mugged at knifepoint, a New York man gets his mugger to return his wallet and (possibly) turn over a new leaf not through intimidation, but through a genuine desire to help out.
 * This article on Yahoo, no I'm not crying, I just have something in my eyes.
 * In 1956, Clinton High School in Clinton, Tennessee was the first school in the South to desegregate after "Brown v. Board of Education". Naturally, much racist hate ensued, sparked mainly by segregationist leaders from elswhere. On the next Election Day, the white pastor of the Baptist Church walked the black students to school. For his trouble, he was beaten by several men. The townsfolk promptly turned out and soundly defeated the slate of segregationist candidates running for City Council.
 * Then, in 1958, the school was bombed. The neighboring city of Oak Ridge had housed a government nuclear lab that worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II. After the war, the extraneous population left, leaving Oak Ridge with a lot of excess housing and infrastructure. So the Oak Ridgeans offered Clinton HS a disused elementary school as temporary housing. People from both towns pitched in to clean and prepare the school. Now, Oak Ridge High School was Clinton's archrival in football and other sports - and in the South, that means something. So imagine how heartwarming it was when the Clinton HS students got off their buses in Oak Ridge the first day of the school year, to find the Oak Ridge HS marching band in full uniform - playing the Clinton HS alma mater. This troper is welling up as he writes this....
 * When Christopher Reeve was told he would never be able to move from the neck down again, he mouthed to his wife, Dana Morosini, "maybe we should let me go." She tearfully replied, "I am only going to say this once: I will support whatever you want to do, because this is your life, and your decision. But I want you to know that I'll be with you for the long haul, no matter what. You're still you. And I love you." Reeve never considered suicide as an option again
 * The friendship between Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner. Although they only shared 3 films together, each one Gardner came to, she was carrying baggage of depression and lack of self confidence (this was the woman called "the most beautiful woman in the world"), and Peck would coach and counsel her into giving the good performances that she gave in the films they starred in together. When asked in later interview if there was anything that went on between them romantically, Peck would always say that they were just friends.
 * This is not the only CMOH that Gregory Peck has. Back when Roman Holiday was being filmed, Peck was so certain that Audrey Hepburn (in her first major film role) would win the Best Actress Oscar for her performance that he convinced the producers to put Hepburn's name before the title in the same size font as his own name. Hepburn then went on to win the Oscar and she and Peck remained extremely close friends until her death. A tearful Peck read her favourite poem in a ceremony in memory of her.
 * Another of Peck's CMO Hs was during the filming of To Kill a Mockingbird when Harper Lee, so impressed with Peck's portrayal of Atticus Finch, presented him with her father's old pocket watch (Lee's father was the inspiration for Atticus). It remained one of his most treasured possessions until he somehow lost it. Heartbroken and disappointed with himself, he realised that he would have to tell Harper Lee, knowing how much it meant to her. Lee's response was that it was only a watch.
 * Gregory Peck became very close to Mary Badham who played Atticus's daughter Scout in the film. For years afterwards they reamained good friends and she always called him 'Atticus' until his death.
 * When Peck died in 2003, his eulogy was read by Brock Peters who had played Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird, the man that Atticus fought to save from being hanged.
 * Gaia Online, yes that Gaia Online, has been releasing items through their cash shop for around $5 each every few months. What's special about that? Well, those 10% of the money spent on those item is donated to the charity the items where drawn for. It's get better. After the earthquake in Japan, Gaia immediately created 3 items the day it happened and said 10% of the money would go to Red Cross to help Japan. While the users were pleased to hear they could help, most felt 10% was not enough. What did the devlopers and admins do? The next day they said all the money raised would go to Red Cross. In the end the users of Gaia raised over $55,000. Red Cross sent a letter to the head of Gaia when then posted it on the site for all to read. Tell me that doesn't warm your heart.
 * Plenty during the 2011 floods in Queensland, Australia, but one that stands out is this. A man risks his life to rescue a baby kangaroo from rising floodwaters. He gets a Crowning Moment of Awesome too, for ignoring the police trying to stop him.
 * The 8 tiny things that stopped suicides, while it dose have some already said stories (Like the kiss and the man who talks people out of jumping), but the ending of this article had this troper crying.

""As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters. I wish you all very good lives.""
 * This video of a Mormon father testifying in favor of same-sex marriage in Maryland. The really heartwarming part is hearing him talk about how much he loves his gay son for who he is and wants him to be able to find, and hopefully marry, a soul mate. Awwe...
 * In the midst of Hurricane Irene, one soldier stands alone to guard the Tomb of the Unknown.
 * The Freedom Tower. To this New York Troper, it symbolizes so much. I count my blessings knowing that my friends and family weren't harmed in the attack, but I, along with all of New York lost something that day. My Innocence. I was too young to understand the gravity of the situation, but now I know. And to look out across the East River and see this mass of steel and glass slowly begin to nudge its way into the skyline, I get choked up. Nothing will ever heal the wound caused by Septerber 11th, but this is something else. This is New York's testament to the world, saying that no matter what happens, we'll take whatever the world has to throw at us, and come back even stronger.
 * Only one life-form can be chosen to evade the destruction and seize the future! And yours is not the existence which should die. You need the future, it is what you live for!
 * What J. K. Rowling has to say about life:

""It's almost worth while to be sick to be nursed by you"."
 * Charles Darwin's recorded last words to his wife.

"What kind of Monster...has unconditional love in their families?"
 * A gay soldier comes out to his father after DADT is repealed, and well...do I have to say it?

""This book you hold in your hands is not a history of D&D, nor is it a history of TSR or Wizards of the Coast, though some history of both is inevitable in a product such as this. It is a celebration—a celebration of something that has touched the lives of millions of people around the globe. Those millions have brought their hopes, their fears and their passions to the game and with each passing year they have made it richer. This celebration belongs to all of them.""
 * "The streak is over! SUSAN LUCCI!!!" It's a small moment next to all these shining examples of the best of human nature, but soap actress Susan Lucci finally winning an Emmy for her iconic role as Erica Kane after nineteen nominations, and the way the entire theater erupted in screams of joy, is enough to choke anyone up. Finally, the longest, most notorious Award Snub in the history of television came to an end.
 * Bill Gates giving his condolences to Steve Jobs, when he died.This is what he said. "I'm truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs' death. Melinda and I extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to everyone Steve has touched through his work. Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives. The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely. "
 * What makes it heartwarming is that despite being "rivals" and both their companies starting the mother of all computer nerd wars, it's just heartwarming in a way seeing this.
 * This little girl being surprised with a trip to Disneyland for her sixth birthday.
 * Norma and Gordon Yeager, together for 72 years, died an hour apart after a car accident. What puts the story here? The ICU nurses rearranged the room so the two of them could hold hands while in their beds. After Gordon died, his heart monitor still showed a beat -- it was his wife's heartbeat, picked up through their joined hands. Norma was still holding her husband's hand when she died. The family arranged for the two of them to be placed in a single coffin, still holding hands.
 * While walking through the remains of the original St Paul's Cathedral, destroyed in the Great Fire of London, Sir Christopher Wren, faced with the mammoth task of rebuilding, found a piece of rubble inscribed on which was the Latin word Resurgam, which translates to mean "I Will Rise Again". You can now find the word engraved on the pediment of the south door in the present St Paul's, beneath the statue of a Phoenix. There has been a site of worship on Ludgate Hill, the highest point in London, since before Christianity came to England. Whether you're religious or not, it is a testament to the enduring nature of faith.
 * Appropriately enough, Sir Christopher was the first person to be buried in the crypt beneath St. Paul's. Engraved on the wall next to his tomb is "Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice" (Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you).
 * While protesting with Occupy Oakland, Scott Olsen, an Iraq veteran, suffered a concussion and was in critical condition. Across the world, in Egypt, the people were still reeling from deposing Mubarak and trying to install a democracy. And they marched for him.
 * This video about some Japanese kids sticking up for their class mate.
 * This special from the cast/crew of Doctor Who. Just... Oh, David.
 * This Failbook post. *sniff* *tear*
 * This rage comic. It seems there are old people on the internet.
 * Those few couples in the world who go through the most immense problems and chaos and You shall no be together and still work it out. It's heart warming every single times it happens. See the 72 years of togetherness couple above for the real beauty of a couple really trying hard to make it work, till the bittersweet end.
 * Since 2010, r/atheism and r/Christianity have had ongoing fundraisers for Doctors without Borders and World Vision Clean Water Fund, respectively. As of 10:05 AM on December 4, 2011, r/atheism has raised $108,845 and £2,424 for Doctors without Borders; r/Christianity has raised $14,056 for World Vision Clean Water Fund. In 2010, r/Islam also raised $1,501 for Islamic Relief. The front page of Reddit is currently flooded with posts offering to donate money for each upvote.
 * Here. I think so, too.
 * When Jack Layton died, his political rival Stephen Harper ordered a state funeral for him.
 * In December 2011, The Man Your Man Could Smell Like decried that he would give one gift to every person on the planet. That in itself would be worthy of this page, but on day 4 he posted a video with a gift for every person feeling down that day. That link went here. Old Spice set up a website specifically so that your computer camera could put your live image onto a 'mirror,' with a special message from the Old Spice Guy saying how special you are.
 * Michael Arnold, known to the world as "Preacher Mike", founder of the Christian Crusaders, a non-denominational Christian ministry and biker club, spent the latter part of his life doing good in the American biker community, promoting peace, mediating disputes, feeding the hungry and taking care of drunk bikers, who would otherwise be spending the night unwatched and at risk of dying of alcohol poisoning and/or facing criminal charges. When he died, the leaders of Hells Angels and Bandidos sat next to each other in the first pew at his funeral. Both men cried.
 * The fandom from the Hetalia Bloodbath 2011 (the Axis Powers Hetalia online Christmas event) over on Live Journal is one of the most loving, kindest, friendliest fandoms this troper has ever come across. The sheer amount of love (with posters constantly expressing their joy and love for one another, getting very emotional, and exchanging contact details to stay in touch) gave this troper one of the warmest feelings she's ever had. Whenever an update came late, there was express concern over the artist's wellbeing, instead of rage/anger. It may not be as big as some of the other entries on this page, but it gave this troper hope for the Internet, since her previous experiences with other fandoms had been full of Trolls
 * I see this as one of these for the Chinese language: The term "大家" (Dàjiā) is the equivalent of "everyone" in English. However, the literal meaning of the individual characters is "big family." The idea of every person in existence being part of a "big family" is definitely heartwarming, but the idea that this culture can consider it true enough for it to be used in this way takes it to a new level.
 * It comes full circle in the end. The Chinese term for "goodbye" literally means "see you later". The language literally does not know how to truly part with anyone.
 * This right here, where the parents of a child who have an insulin pump, get's one tattooed so he don't feel alone. Awww.
 * Carly Fleischmann was autistic to the point of being unable to speak, and generally most of her behavior was limited to hand flaps, rocking and bouncing her head. Most people tended to pass her off as mentally retarded... until she sat down at a computer and began typing. Doubles as a Moment of Awesome as well. (She's since written a book, by the way!)
 * A more minor but still notable one. Charlie Brooker, to those outside the U.K. and Ireland, is a television critic and comedian known for his extremely biting wit and immense cynicism about just about everything. When the earthquake hit Haiti in early 2010, his show Newswipe showed him being very solemn about the events and urging his viewers to donate money. This quickly turned to righteous anger when he observed how news reports in the U.K. were making the people of Haiti out to be savages who were a mere step away from turning to violence and slyly condemning them for desperately salvaging what they could and painting Haiti as a home to brutes. Charlie was clearly incensed at the Unfortunate Implications and doesn't hold back from condemning the stations for promoting that kind of viewpoint.
 * What pushes this into Crowning Moment of Awesome territories is that he was one of, if not the, only man on British Television calling out the major TV news sources on this.
 * Back in 2007, Britney Spears' life was a complete trainwreck. She was in the middle of a very nasty divorce, her family was turning against her and media outlets were lapping up every event from her shaved head to her supposed "weight gain" and substance abuse with a mix of delight and condemnation, making her a very popular target for comedians. Craig Ferguson started off his show with this heartbreaking monologue in which he recounted his experiences with alcoholism and how his personal problems nearly led him to commit suicide. He told the audience that there would be no jokes about Britney's life or problems and encouraging his audience not to judge her for what she is going through. It was amazing to see the normally goofy host be surprisingly solemn and emphatic about someone that the general public was all too happy to write off.
 * A Christian group shows up to a Gay Pride parade in Chicago with signs, signs that say things like "I'm sorry for how the church treated you" Cue the hugs.
 * As a Christian and a Gay man, I feel this is also either a CMOA or a rare happy Tear Jerker.
 * As a bisexual Buddhist, I agree. 100%
 * In the wake of the Virginia Tech Massacre, this was posted on every college website. Never fails to move me to tears, man.
 * Remember the video where the dad shot his daughter's laptop nine times over her comments on Facebook? Well, a recent video on Yahoo! reveals that before he emptied his .45 on the laptop, he removed the harddrive so his daughter wouldn't loose anything during his rage. Yeah, he still shot up an expensive laptop, but the fact he still loved her enough to save the data before completely destroying the laptop makes me smile. He even pulled the harddrive out of his pocket to show it to everyone on the video.
 * This video where Dustin Hoffman presents an the Cecil B. DeMille award to Laurence Olivier. Hoffman's respect for Olivier and his anecdote about the great actor visiting him with a collection of his own copies of Shakespeare are very touching. Olivier's humble acceptance of the award is charming enough but the fact that he makes his speech more about his praise for Hoffman is very sweet. In fact, the fact that he accidently snaps the top off his award is heartwarming in itself because it shows that - whilst nowadays people look on actors as detached from reality and arrogant money-grabbers who only care about making the front pages and the celebrity lifestyle - one of the greatest actors that ever lived was just as awkward and just as human as anyone else.
 * Tomonobu Itagaki, creator of Dead or Alive, is very well known for giving trash talks to Tekken series. When the man quit Koei-Tecmo, the head of Tekken, Katsuhiro Harada, eventually expressed that he really missed the good old days of Itagaki trash-talking him. When Itagaki got wind of this? He told him that one day, he'll give Harada a call, acknowledging him as an 'equally crazy guy'... like himself. Thus we all know that behind the trash-talkings, they do see each other with respect.
 * For those who are and were avid players of Dungeons & Dragons, having Vin Diesel--friggin' Riddick--not only proudly say that he is a fan and avid player of the game, but going so far as to write a deeply personal forward to the book 30 Years of Adventure: Celebrating Dungeons & Dragons, celebrating the game's 30th anniversary.


 * Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite opened a French newspaper to find his own obituary; The merchant of death is dead. It was in fact his brother, Ludvig who had passed away. It shook him to his core. When he died eight years later, everyone was shocked when his will--changed after the event--stated that his fortune be used to create a series of prizes to be awarded to the people who confer "the greatest benefit to mankind". Now it's known as the Nobel Prize, given to those recognized for crowning achievements in Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace, and Physiology or Medicine.
 * One year since the horrible massacre and bombing in Norway, thousands of Norwegians gathered in Youngstorget Square to sing "My Rainbow Race" a truly touching response to counter the hatred that motivated one man to kill and destroy many lives.
 * Eduard Khil, most famous as the Trololo Man, has just died. Upon going to the official video on YouTube, I discovered that turning on automatic updates for the comments resulted in a literal flood of never-ending "Rest in Peace" comments from countries all across the world. It's amazing to see people all over the world, from Chile to Croatia, sending their thoughts to him. As one person said, "They say that you die twice: once when your heart stops beating, and once when people stop saying your name. We will never forget you, Eduard."
 * Just as heartwarming is that after being stuck in relative obscurity for several years and likely not being well known outside of Russia (Where he had received several awards mind), the internet embraced his song and gave him worldwide fame and recognition. Despite it not having lyrics, it warmed the hearts of millions worldwide and clearly touched Eduard deeply knowing that people were appreciating him and his music. Although he is sadly no longer with us, at least he left us knowing that people would miss him and he will always be remembered. RIP Eduard.