Through rain, sleet, snow and heat, our mail carriers make sure bills, birthday cards and holiday packages make it to their destinations on time. Meet five postal employees who went above and beyond the call of duty and became heroes in their communities.

Alan Girard's day started just like it had every day for the past 13 years—until he spotted an apartment complex on fire along his route. The first on the scene, he rushed into the burning building without any thought for his own life. With the help of four other carriers who arrived at the scene, Alan helped dozens of elderly residents escape the flames. "I go to deliver mail there now and someone will be with a little child and say: 'That's the man. That's the man who saved Grandpa,'" he says. "[It's] absolutely the most incredible feeling you could ever have."

Melissa Kelley, a mother of two, was on her regular route when she saw an elderly man being attacked by a pit bull. She threw her body in front of the man and used pepper spray to fight off the dog. The man says she saved his life. "I was just at the right place at the right time," she says. "He always tells me I'm his angel."