Why did 32 college students with long lives ahead of them have to die in a hail of bullets? Why did two Charlotte policemen have to die in a situation that was not confrontational, with their guns holstered because they had no reason to fear violence?

The massacre at Virginia Tech following on the heels of what happened here in Charlotte three weeks ago raises again those questions of how lives are lived, how unexpectedly death can come and how anyone could commit the murders that have so dominated the news in recent weeks.

I certainly have no answer for the big question. We can all shed tears and sympathize with those who lost loved ones, but there is no way we can know the pain in the hearts of those closest to the victims. It is pain that will certainly last a lifetime.

But we can make memory and pay respects in ways that mean something and we have seen a lot of that in the last three weeks. I have lived in Charlotte for eight years and have always felt the people here are among the best I’ve ever known. That was more than confirmed after the deaths of officers Jeff Shelton and Sean Clark.

Seeing the thousands of people standing in silent tribute along the funeral route for both men was as moving a sight as you will ever see. That’s particularly true when you take note of the many youngsters standing there. They certainly could not have understood everything about it, but got an early lesson on how some things are worth honoring, how some men are worth remembering. The kind of outpouring we saw was the kind you might see in a much smaller town or village. It says something about Charlotte that we saw it in a city this size.

And what of the Virginia Tech community? You could not fail to be moved by that candlelight vigil in the center of campus on Tuesday night. College students lead a mostly sheltered existence. They are not supposed to know about violent death. But in the face of the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, those young people grew up quickly. It’s a tragedy that they had to do so, but it says much about them that they did. And in so doing made many people proud well beyond the confines of the campus in Blacksburg.

A president came to pay his respects, a major league pitcher throws a no-hitter and shows up for his press conference in a Virginia Tech hat, countless memorial services and candlelight vigils are held at places far removed from Blacksburg, and there is a run at sports shops around the country on Virginia Tech clothing as people show their support for a school most know little about.

In the end, it seems to me, it’s the humanity we show that transcends the senseless deaths that have touched so many. We have deep divisions in this country on any number of issues and yet when death comes in such a horrible way, we draw together. It gives hope that the things which divide are not nearly as strong as the things that bind. We cannot bring back the dead, but in honoring their memory we can live up to the best in all of us and thereby strike a blow against the evil that took their lives.

BOOK OF THE WEEK

“TRUMAN,” 1992, By David McCullough

Harry Truman was the last President without a college education. He was also one of our very best. In his nearly eight years on the job he made the decision to drop the atomic bomb, made the decision to rebuild Europe with the Marshall plan, recognized Israel, de-segregated the military, pulled off one of the great political upsets ever and fired one of the most popular generals in U.S. history. In short, his was one of the most important and momentous presidencies in U.S. history.

Written by one of the great historians this country has ever produced, it’s a book worthy of the Pulitzer Prize that it won.