I came across a lovely article describing three victims of the Colorado shooting. It gave their names and not the name of the shooter. The author pointed out that in all mass slayings, it was the name of the murderer, not the names of the victims, that were remembered over time. The few exceptions were when one of the casualties were famous.
Case in point: can anyone name the victims of Charles Manson and his “Family” other than Sharon Tate? Besides being an actress, her name was immortalized in at least one rock song after the fact.
I used to really enjoy listening to Paul Harvey News in the morning on the radio on my drive in to work. When a state executed a criminal he would announce, “[Name of state] killed a killer today.” Sometimes he would add, “He would like me to tell you his name.” Then there would be a brief silence and he’d start the next news article. He also told lovely stories of previously unsung heroes. Son of a police officer, he was good about bringing those tales forward.
Heroes. Not just in movies.
Internal Jukebox: Rambling Rover