5 who answered the call, and hear what they learned from their acts of kindness and courage

"If someone had told Victor Perez at the beginning of the year that he'd soon find fame because of a heroic act, he would have laughed. He couldn't even find a job.

But the events of Oct. 5 were so unbelievable that the 30-year-old unemployed construction worker was left shaking and speechless.

"Never, ever in my wildest dreams would I think something like this would happen," said Perez, who is credited with saving the life of an abducted 8-year-old girl. "I'm trying to make sense of all this hero stuff."

As you prepare to sit down for your turkey dinner today, we thought it would be a good time to give thanks to America's unexpected heroes - everyday people, like Perez, who are thrust into the role with little if any preparation.

Read on and you'll meet five such heroes, and hear about the impact that their acts of bravery or kindness have had on the people they helped - and on their own lives. In addition to Perez, they are:

• A New York bus driver who stopped to rescue two families from a burning house - and then went on to finish his route.
• A New Jersey tot who dialed 911 and saved his grandmother's life.
• A University of Arizona grad student who lost her leg in the Haiti earthquake, then  returned to the country to build a school - and help a teenager who helped pull her from the rubble and then rushed her to get medical treatment.
• A Connecticut mayor who donated her kidney to a Facebook friend.