Then out spake brave Horatius,
The Captain of the Gate:
“To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his Gods.”
Thomas Babington Macaulay, Lays of the Ancient Romans
In my misspent youth I was in Army ROTC. This hits home for me:
Riley Howell, 21, died in his classroom on April 30 after charging and tackling the alleged shooter, identified as 22-year-old Trystan Andrew Terrell.
“His sacrifice saved lives,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said in a news conference. “What he did was he took the assailant off his feet, and then the heroes that we have here were able to apprehend him from there.”
Putney described Howell as “the first and foremost hero as far as [he’s] concerned” regarding the shooting, which also killed 19-year-old Ellis Parlier.
Hundreds of people attended Howell’s memorial service Sunday in Lake Junaluska, N.C.
Howell, an ROTC cadet, was given a burial with full military honors, including an honor guard.
During the service, Howell’s friends and family remembered him as adventurous, affectionate and big-hearted, according to the Associated Press.
Go here to read the rest. Rest easy soldier, your duty is done.
Update: Kendrick Castillo, another hero, inspired by the example of his grandfather who was a Marine.
A Catholic, Mr. Castillo often volunteered with the Knights of Columbus to help the elderly. If he isn’t enjoying the Beatific Vision now, I would eat a very large hat.
Men like Mr. Howell and Mr. Castillo remind us of why God went through all of the trouble to make us.
Stand proud among the nation’s heroes, kid.
That’s what us old timers used to call a hero.
He’s a hero
Well done good and faithful servant. His family is in my prayers. As a father of a son about to graduate from the AFA, I can’t even imagine what they are going through. To be called on so soon, it’s unreal. May God comfort them.
Hero: The ordinary doing an extraordinary act of love for another, usually at the expense of their own life. This young man is a true hero. The term hero has been maligned so much that it means nothing anymore. Every one is a hero today. You cross the finish line with a broken toe and you are a hero? You teach school and you are a hero? You participate in a sport and you are a hero? No. It is not until someone like Riley Howell comes along and shakes us back to our senses so we once again realize what a hero really is.
“Thus was the burial of Hektor, breaker of horses.” Final sentence in Lattimore’s translation of The Iliad.
Homer knew that civilizations require worthy heroes and worthy foes. Cadet Howell and Kendrick Castillo are worthy heroes.
The left’s liars will accuse, try and convict 5,000,000 NRA members and a hundred million deplorable God/gun clingers. You will not find among the left’s lies: “Shooter Tweeted About Hating All These Christians That Hate Gays.” The other shooter was transitioning from girl to boy.
There’s something seriously wrong with your “civilization” when human pond scum, like PA Rep. Sims, are your heroes, and 13 year-old girls and Rosary-praying old women are your enemies.
There’s something seriously wrong with your “civilization” when human pond scum, like PA Rep. Sims, are your heroes, and 13 year-old girls and Rosary-praying old women are your enemies.
Comment of the week T.Shaw! Heck, comment of the month! Take ‘er away Sam!
No greater love….
Rest in peace, kid. You did good.