Gov. Ronald Reagan's heroic act remembered: On Feb. 2, 1972, I lived at the epicenter of the Sylmar, Calif., earthquake. At the end of my block stood the Veterans hospital for World War I gas victims. The structure was composed of brick and mortar, and hundreds were trapped in the rubble. As Gov. Ronald Reagan and his entourage walked over the pile of rubble, he heard the voices of entrapped men. Unable to get help, he removed his suit coat, dropped to his knees and started digging with his bare hands. Time and again his entourage tried to pull him...