Guest Opinion: William Benson: Sam Strahan leaned in; we can, too

Let’s talk about Sam.

I’m an old Marine and soldier, so some things resonate to me differently than they might to others.

Sam Strahan, a sophomore at Freeman High School, was the single fatality of the shooting at Freeman High. More and more people are offering testimonials about him, letting the world know who he was and exactly how bright a star we have lost. He was loved by many. He was funny, caring and a good friend, by all accounts.

He was also a hero, and I want to lift up that part of his story.

John Kelly, currently White House chief of staff, is a retired Marine Corps general, and he is the father of two Marine officers, one of whom, 1st Lt. Robert Kelly, was lost in action in 2010.

Gen. Kelly gave a speech titled “Leaning In,” and in it related another heroically tragic incident, where two Marines were standing at a checkpoint in Iraq. Their actions were caught on a CCTV security camera. The footage shows them checking ID cards of pedestrians, all normal, boring stuff, until the civilians notice something coming up behind them, and they start running. The Marines look down the road to see a truck speeding toward them. They could have run. They could have sought cover, although the after-incident investigation revealed that the truck was packed with enough explosives to make the attempt fruitless.

Instead, the Marines, in unison, raised their rifles and engaged the truck. The last image before the truck detonated, killing the Marines and destroying the camera, was of the two Marines, front feet planted in a determined shooting stance, leaning into the recoil of their rifles and holding their ground.

Leaning in.

This struck a chord among the military community. It is the epitome of courage to recognize the danger, to resolve to face it, heedless of the cost, even when every instinct is to run. We expect this of our military men and women. We expect this of our first responders. In fact, we expect it of most adults, to a certain extent.

We have no right to expect it from a high school sophomore who is still trying to come to grips with the loss of his father, and wants to do nothing more than to make it to Friday afternoon, like every other teenager.

But Sam Strahan leaned in.

We cannot know what was going through his mind. We don’t know if the shock of seeing someone he knew and trusted unlimber a gun completely extinguished the instinct to flee. We don’t know if he approached his friend expecting to be able to negotiate, or out of rash action. We don’t know if he decided that he, Sam Strahan, was not going to allow a bad situation to get worse.

Whether by tragic coincidence, or by gritty determination, Sam Strahan leaned in. And that makes him mighty. In the last moments of his life, he joined the fraternity of heroes.

I don’t know if testimonials of courage and fortitude are any consolation to his family, having lost such a beloved young man, but I know that thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of seasoned warriors will, upon hearing his story, embrace Sam Strahan as brother; and love him as a kindred spirit: a hero who stood fast in the face of adversity. I know this to be true.

It will be up to his family to determine how Sam’s fortitude is celebrated, and whatever their decision, it will be the correct one. But how can we, the Freeman community, celebrate his courage?

Carpe diem – seize the day. We can lean in to life.

We can lean in and have the courage to reach out to those who might be struggling with their inner demons.

We can lean in and have the courage to recognize that maybe we don’t treat those who are different from us with enough compassion. We can lean in, step out of our comfort space, and engage them with kindness.

We can lean in and recognize that our mental health system needs a lot of work.

We can lean in in a lot of ways.

The Freeman community is strong. This incident has hit us hard, but it hasn’t broken us. We aren’t shattered; we’re hurting, but we will bounce back, and we’ll lift our injured friends on our shoulders while they recover.

And we will remember Sam Strahan’s sacrifice. Let us live our lives to be worthy of it.