Dear Readers,

Our nation faced another tragedy this week when a shooter opened fire inside the Washington Navy Yard, killing a dozen people and wounding at least eight others.

After a shootout with police, he was killed.

What struck me about the incident had nothing to do with the shooter, his motive, his weapons or how he got inside a secure facility. It had nothing to do with the reaction of the police, the hospital workers or officials in Washington.

Amid the confusion and fear spawned by a nut job standing on a fourth floor overlook firing at strangers whose only crime was grabbing a quick bite and a second cup of coffee before going to work, two incidents stand out.

The first involved a naval worker named Omar Grant,  who help a blind co-worker to safety. Another saw some folks helped a wounded colleague to the building’s roof, where the victim was picked up by a helicopter and flown to a hospital.

Think about it for a moment. As 3,000 office workers started work, police from separate agencies put aside their “turf battles” and traded gunfire with the shooter like it was an old John Wayne movie.  Some folks barricaded themselves in their offices. Others hid in closets. Many just ran for their lives. In the midst of it all, some ignored the danger and helped others.

It seems to happen over and over. No matter whether it is a shooting or a natural disaster or some other awful incident, there is something that clicks in some of us to turn and help others, despite the natural urge to flee.

Here in our little corner of the world, we see a version of this as our firefighters, volunteers all, drop what ever they are doing and rush to help others in need.

When the marine radio broadcasts a call for help, yachtsmen and fishermen, sailors all, head for the reported location to help rescue, or, perish the thought, help search for a victim. Many times, it is just neighbors helping neighbors.

Police and sheriff’s deputies walk into the most volatile of all situations a couple times each week.  When love turns to hate and hate begets fear, it can quickly turn into a dangerous situation for a cop involved in what is usually called a domestic incident. It is even more dangerous for our local peace officers when the closest help is frequently miles away. Yet they still go ahead.

Our Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club recently honored our public safety community with a “Hometown Heroes” event. Good for them and a pat on the back to the honorees.

In the coming weeks, we will see “experts” and “pundits” and “national spokesmen” debate the ins and outs of the Washington Navy Yard massacre. We will hear all of them say this terrible incident could have been avoided if the nation had just adopted and implemented their pet project.

Over the years, we will forget the name of the shooter and his motives as we have done with other mass shootings. But we won’t forget that once again, in a tragedy that horrified the nation, we saw strangers helping strangers and friends helping friends.

Once again, we saw ordinary folks become heroes.