Turkey (CNN) In the last five years, life expectancy has dropped by nearly 20 years in Syria. It is an astonishing figure.

And the reason is not because of deadly infectious diseases or lack of clean water, although those are problems there as well. Instead, it has to do primarily with rusty old barrels that are packed with explosives and hurtled out of helicopters onto large neighborhoods. These barrels often contain nails, wire, glass and anything else that can brutally maim and destroy a human body.

The images are awful to imagine, and even worse to see.

According to the Syrian Civil Defense, barrel bombs, as they are called, are now the greatest killer of civilians in many parts of Syria.

Every time one of these barrels strikes, it is the seismological equivalent of a 7.6 magnitude earthquake, and it happens around 50 times a day. While I spoke to James Le Mesurier in Southern Turkey last night, he received word that three more barrel bombs had fallen in just the past few hours. He also told me that when this happens, there is no one for the average citizen to call. "You can't dial 911. You can't dial the fire service. You can't call the local police department. They don't exist."

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James is the architect of an organization called the White Helmets that is trying to fill that void. In the process, they hope to accomplish much more as well. These plumbers, postmen, teachers and other civilians are training and joining forces to become a medical and rescue team. They would like to reverse the drop in life expectancy and offer some relief to the countless civilians who have become increasingly desperate, forced to leave their homes and even move into parts of the country now controlled by the Islamic State.

In the old Western movies, it was easy to tell the good guys and the bad guys apart, by the colors they wore. In Syria, a country bursting with too many men in black hats, James and his 2,600 volunteers want to offer an alternative. A glimmer of hope, of men and women in white helmets.

The story of the White Helmets mirrors the escalation of violence of the revolution. In late 2012, the Syrian regime withdrew its forces from northern and southern Syria. Whether it was in response to increasingly powerful rebel forces is not something the regime of Bashar al-Assad has ever acknowledged, but the end product was the same. The absence of government forces essentially turned these into "free-fire" zones. The al-Assad regime could now bomb and shell these areas indiscriminately with thousands of innocent civilians caught in the crossfire and no help in sight.

Photos: Meet the White Helmets Photos: Meet the White Helmets In May 2015, 25 of Syria's bravest men made their way to a 10-day training camp in southern Turkey. Each of them has a unique story as to why he joined the Syrian Civil Defence. We asked each of the men what he did before the war, as well as their most memorable story of saving a life.



Ziad Shaheen, 33. Firefighter. "I saved a baby whose father was trying to reach him. He was killed by a crumbling wall. The baby was safe in bed." Hide Caption 1 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Zuhair Armanazi, 39. Blacksmith. "A teacher and three students were thrown out of their classroom, when the regime dropped a bomb on their school. I found a boy, about 11 years old, buried to the chest with rubble. I dug him out and saved him." Hide Caption 2 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Ibrahim Alzoughpi, 28. Barber. "It was a bombing near a bakery. We responded and saved a 17-year-old lady with a head injury. Unfortunately, two of her brothers died in the attack." Hide Caption 3 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Ibrahim Alzoughpi, 25. Blacksmith. "A street area was attacked with six missiles. We rescued two brothers, from a room deep inside the house and off the street. Their parents and other two brothers died, because they were in a room closer to the street." Hide Caption 4 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Ahmed Zaidu, 33. Sculptor. "We were helping to evacuate people from Idlib, and a barrel bomb was dropped. We were able to rescue an entire family, including a mother and two children. We were able to save them all." Hide Caption 5 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Mohammad Altouma, 22. First-year university student, studying mechanical aviation engineering. "The town square in my village was bombed by the regime. It hit my uncle's house. I rescued my aunt, uncle and 5-year-old girl cousin, but her two brothers were killed." Hide Caption 6 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Abdul Kader Suleyman, 32. Farmer. "A month ago in Darkoush, the regime aircraft hit with two thermobaric missiles. We were able to save a 7-month-old girl, but her mother and father died. We were able to place her with her uncle." Hide Caption 7 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Ahmad Khaleel, 47. Former military. "I responded, along with my team, to a thermobaric missile and barrel bombs. Three two-story buildings next to each other were destroyed. 22 people were killed, but I am proud that we were able to pull 6 people out alive, especially the children." Hide Caption 8 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Husam Mudiratee, 27. Policeman. "A two-story building collapsed. We found an 11-year-old boy crouched in the corner, safe. It was the first life I rescued and if I never save another life, that will be enough." Hide Caption 9 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Ali Hubeter, 49. Farmer. "We found two kids in the rubble in Ainsheeb. The two-year-old lost his leg. We thought he wouldn't make it, but he is alive!" Hide Caption 10 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Siraj Aldeen Hassoun, 25. Construction. "There was a bombing in Sarmin. The roof of the second floor of a two-story building collapsed. I shouted, 'Is anybody here?' I heard movement, and found a man in a safe space, thanks to two big rocks on either side of him." Hide Caption 11 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Mahmoud Altaifour, 23. Business management student. "I rescued a man from under a roof alive. When we got there to rescue him, we didn't have the proper equipment and we had to wait before we were able to pull him out. I even rode in the ambulance with him to the because I wanted to make sure he got the best doctor, but he died at the hospital." Hide Caption 12 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Mohammad Danawer, 24. Was in his third year studying math at university. "The regime bombed a refugee camp. We saved so many people, but I mostly remember an old lady, who had an injured leg. It bothered me, because you should be safe at a refugee camp." Hide Caption 13 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Abdulrahman Humaidi, 20. Carpenter. "I was in a village near Salqeen. A missile hit the upper floor of a building and it collapsed. We pulled a 40-year-old man out and his family was thanking us and hugging and kissing, until they realized that his wife and two children died in the attack." Abdulrahman has 4 brothers, all of whom have also joined the White Helmets.



Hide Caption 14 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Mohammad Faisal Hammade, 41. Ministry of Agriculture. "They dropped a thermobaric bomb in the village of Sinkar. It hit a house and divided into two parts, one destroyed and one not. I can't describe the feeling that came over me when we found a mother and two children alive, especially since we had such a hard time getting to them." Hide Caption 15 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Yamen Yoused, 27. Construction. "Two days before I came to this course, I rescued a 2-year-old baby. His dad told me where he was trapped and buried. We went and found him alive, but his 14-year-old sister had died." Hide Caption 16 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Mohammad Ata Rashwani, 44. Hospital administration. "We were in a village called Kastim and rescued a man whose entire lower half was buried. A missile hit a car outside the shop he was in. We took him to the hospital and he lived." Mohammad joined the White Helmets five days after his son was killed working the very same job. Hide Caption 17 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Bilal Salloum, 29. Syrian Secret Service. "My whole village used to leave during the day and only come home at night to sleep. There was this old married couple, whose home was hit with a barrel bomb. They both lived, we saved them, and took them to the hospital." Hide Caption 18 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Mahmoud Staify, 20. Was about to start high school. "Idlib was being heavily bombed when it got out from under regime control. We arrived at the end of a tunnel that was so small you could only move the dust with your hands. We found a 60-year-old man alive in the basement, and spent 6 hours getting him out." Hide Caption 19 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Isa Mohammad Jalloul, 25. Policeman and law student. "We responded to a bombing in a small village and ran to the basement. It was full of 15 women and children. 13 were dead, but we were able to save two, a man and a woman both in their twenties." Hide Caption 20 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Abdulkareem Qaddour, 20. Was in high school. "A barrel bomb dropped near my best friend. He had shrapnel in his head, neck and chest. I took him by ambulance to the hospital, but he died on his way to the operating room." Hide Caption 21 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Ahmad Rahhal, 27. Policeman. "First, two of our guys went in for the rescue and were 'double tapped.' We went in to rescue them and searched for other survivors. We found three young girls alive and well, plus an infant, who unfortunately died at the hospital." Ahmad received a round of applause from the rest of the White Helmets when he announced he is getting married next week when he returns to Syria. Hide Caption 22 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Fadi Ibrahim, 36. Carpet factory employee. "In my village, a man was stuck under the rubble. Three hours later, we got him out. This is someone that I know, walk by on the street and could've been dead." Hide Caption 23 of 24 Photos: Meet the White Helmets Hussain Alassi, 25. Was about to start college. "We rescued a family of three in the village of Mazra, a little 6-year-old girl, plus her father and mother. It was a huge building, and the whole second floor had collapsed on the first. We finally found them, cut a hole in the wall and took them to the hospital." Hide Caption 24 of 24

Over time, it was ordinary men who started to respond to the explosions, fires and attacks. Barbers, bakers, students and electricians, to name a few -- consistently showed up to help in any way they could. In many of these areas, it was the same people who kept running into each other while conducting rescues. Most had bought helmets that were white, instead of colored, simply because they were cheaper. And, according to James, it was the local media who first asked "who are all those guys with the white helmets?" It was the birth of a humanitarian organization that three years later has saved 18,000 lives, and recently been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

There are now around 2,600 White Helmets, including 56 women who joined over the last several months. In some of Syria's more conservative communities, women trapped in the rubble cannot be rescued by a man no matter how dire the situation. For them, the women of the White Helmets satisfy an unmet need.

Over the last few days, I have had a chance to sit down and talk to 25 of the White Helmets to try and better understand their lives, their motivations and their future. We were in Southern Turkey, not too far from the border with Syria, where the White Helmets were going through a sophisticated training exercise. I was invited to tag along. On our first day, the men all sat in a circle with me, and just started gushing their stories. It was almost cathartic for them, maybe even therapeutic.

Every single one of them raised their hands when asked if they had personally saved a life.

Ibrahim Armanazi, age 28, worked as a barber. He saved a 17-year-old woman with a head injury after a bombing near a local bakery. Abdul Kader Suleyman, 32, is a farmer who saved a 7-month-old girl after two thermobaric missiles hit the town of Darkoush. Mohammed Ata Rashwani, 44, previously worked as a hospital administrator. He rushed to the scene of a missile attack, and "rescued a man whose entire lower half was buried." It was only later that he added something I will never forget. Mohammed joined the White Helmets five days after his son was killed doing the very same job.

Ahmad Rahhal worked as a policeman, and at age 27 moved up the ranks quickly to detective. He told the story of two other White Helmets, who had died after being "double tapped." This is a particularly malicious act that occurs when a helicopter carries two barrel bombs. After dropping the first one, the helicopter circles in the sky waiting for the first responders to arrive. Once a big enough crowd has gathered, they drop the second bomb.

It is different level of savagery.

Ahmad survived that double tap, and was able to also rescue three young girls, who are alive and well.

Ahmad, like all the other White Helmets, is doing his part to turn around the plummeting life expectancy in Syria. And, for him, it is even more personal than that. He is getting married next week, and will be starting a family of his own. When he shared that news, the entire group of hardened White Helmets broke out into spontaneous applause, hooting and hollering.

Despite all they have seen and endured, the men and women who wear the white helmets believe Syria and its citizens can be saved. They have a palpable optimism about the future -- and, they want to share it with everyone.