{"id":8258,"date":"2024-07-15T13:52:32","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T13:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/?p=8258"},"modified":"2024-07-16T18:41:22","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T18:41:22","slug":"corey-comperatore-a-father-protecting-his-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/corey-comperatore-a-father-protecting-his-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Corey Comperatore: a Father Protecting His Family"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/live\/election-biden-trump-campaign-updates-07-13-2024\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20240526ff\/20240713-AP-video-TrumpButlerPennsylvaniaIncludingSidebar-10-05-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Evan Vucci's photo (AP): 'Trump says he was shot in the ear during rally; one attendee and shooter are dead'. (July 13, 2024) via AP News, used w\/o permission.\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Former American president Donald Trump, shortly after being shot in Pennsylvania. (July 13, 2024)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s how I learned that someone tried to kill Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our number-two daughter and granddaughter were visiting over the weekend. We were talking about something entirely different when our number-two daughter looked at her smartphone \u2014 one of those things that connects whoever&#8217;s holding it to humanity&#8217;s social media and information services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She said something like &#8216;oh! someone shot Trump&#8217;, and we went on with our conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That was late Saturday. By Sunday evening, our son-in-law had finished business in southern Minnesota, spent a few hours with us, and set off with number-two-daughter and our granddaughter to their home in North Dakota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don&#8217;t get me wrong: I care about what happens in my country, and think that taking potshots at presidential candidates \u2014 or presidents \u2014 is a very bad idea. But I&#8217;m not obsessively focused on politics or politicos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/corey-comperatore-a-father-protecting-his-family\/#remembering\">Remembering a Hero<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/corey-comperatore-a-father-protecting-his-family\/#family\">Family, Country, and Priorities<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-black-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-black-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>(update; July 16, 2024)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I hadn&#8217;t planned on writing more about Corey Comperatore, but his last words showed up in my news feeds today. &#8220;Get down!&#8221; isn&#8217;t particularly profound, but was eminently practical at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;&#8230;In an interview with the New York Post on Monday, Helen Comperatore, the widow of Corey Comperatore, shared her husband&#8217;s last words, spoken as he shielded his family from bullets that ultimately took his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;He&#8217;s my hero,&#8217; Helen Comperatore said. &#8216;He just said, &#8220;Get down!&#8221; That was the last thing he said.&#8217;\u2026&#8221;<br>(&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2024\/07\/14\/politics\/corey-comperatore-trump-shooting-victim\/index.html\">Man killed at Trump rally identified as firefighter Corey Comperatore, who \u2018died a hero\u2019<\/a>&#8221; , Zoe Sottile, Kit Maher, Lauren Mascarenhas; CNN (July 15, 2024)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;&#8230;Helen Comperatore said the childhood sweethearts were on the verge of celebrating their 29th wedding anniversary &#8230;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8230;&#8217;Me and the kids were all there as a family,&#8217; she said. &#8216;He was just excited. It was going to be a nice day with the family.&#8217;&#8230;&#8221;<br>(&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/07\/15\/us-news\/corey-comperatores-widow-reveals-his-final-words-before-he-was-killed-at-trump-rally\/\">Hero firefighter Corey Comperatore\u2019s widow reveals his final words as he shielded family at Trump rally<\/a>&#8220;, Steven Vago, Jorge Fitz-Gibbon; New York Post (July 15, 2024)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-black-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-black-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"remembering\"><\/a>Remembering a Hero<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.post-gazette.com\/news\/crime-courts\/2024\/07\/14\/trump-rally-shooting-victim-corey-comperatore\/stories\/202407140134\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20240526ff\/20240714-corey-comperatore-1720972598-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Photo from GoFundMe campaign set up by Jason Bubb, via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Corey Comperatore. (July 14, 2024)\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Corey Comperatore, who was killed while protecting his family.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I figure that what Wikipedia started calling &#8220;Attempted assassination of Donald Trump&#8221; will be in the news for at least most of this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some news that I&#8217;ve seen so far has focused on a probably-mixed-up kid who winged Mr. Trump: and was promptly killed. By then, he&#8217;d wounded at least a couple other folks, and killed Corey Comperatore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other news pieces opined on the political angle of Saturday&#8217;s incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m not going to do either. Not today, at any rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, I&#8217;ll share \u2014 I wouldn&#8217;t call it good news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But seeing a little attention paid to someone who <strong>hadn&#8217;t<\/strong> been attacking a politician? That&#8217;s a nice change of pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Seems that Corey Comperatore was a project and tooling engineer. He had either been or maybe still was a volunteer firefighter. And he&#8217;d been the former chief of the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/corey-comperatore-a-father-protecting-his-family\/#1\">1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So much for my culture&#8217;s conventional summary of who someone is. Or, in this case, was. From where I&#8217;m standing, Corey Comperatore was also a husband and father who died while protecting his family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that <strong>has<\/strong> been mentioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/politics-news\/witness-trump-rally-describes-seeing-person-died-shot-head-rcna161744\">Witness at Trump rally describes seeing the person who died being shot in head<\/a>&#8221; <br>Dasha Burns, Rebecca Cohen; NBC News (July 13, 2024; updated July 14, 2024)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;\u2026State police and a SWAT team then began evacuating everyone in the bleachers. Joseph said that he helped officials carry the dead man off of the bleachers to a tent nearby and that officials put a towel over his head before they carried him off\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;\u2026He said the man was facing Trump at the very far left part of the bleachers&#8230;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;\u2026Joseph, an OB-GYN, said that he told police he could help render assistance but that police said they did not need him, <strong>so he helped with the man who was killed.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;He said that <strong>the man&#8217;s family was in the bleachers with him<\/strong> and that they were in shock and didn&#8217;t know what was going on. <strong>About five family members were there,<\/strong> two of whom were &#8216;hysterical,&#8217; Joseph said. <strong>The family was taken to the tent with their deceased relative.<\/strong>&#8230;&#8221;<br>[emphasis mine]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>This Joseph deserves mention, too. He was there, helping a family deal with sudden death. I figure that&#8217;s a corporal act of mercy: which is Catholic-speak for giving practical help. Not that lending a hand with the body of a family member will make everything better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, back to Corey Comperatore:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/live\/cljy6yz1j6gt\">Volunteer fire chief died after diving to protect his family<\/a>&#8221; <br>BBC News (July 14, 2024, 17:30)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;[Pennsylvania Governor Josh] Shapiro says he has been speaking to the families of the two people who were shot and are still being treated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;<strong>He then goes onto [!] pay tribute to volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore, 50, who he says was killed last night and &#8216;dived on his family&#8217; to protect them.<\/strong>&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.post-gazette.com\/news\/crime-courts\/2024\/07\/14\/trump-rally-shooting-victim-corey-comperatore\/stories\/202407140134\n\">Man killed at Trump rally was former fire chief in Butler County who was protecting family<\/a>&#8221; <br>Laura Esposito, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (July 14, 2024)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;\u2026Mr. Shapiro said early Sunday afternoon that he&#8217;d spoken with Mr. Comperatore&#8217;s wife and daughters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;<strong>&#8216;Corey was a girl-dad. Corey was a firefighter. Corey went to church every Sunday,&#8217; <\/strong>the governor said, noting that he&#8217;d sought permission from Helen Comperatore to share their conversation. &#8216;He was so excited last night to be there with [Trump] and the community.&#8217;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;He said <strong>Ms. Comperatore wanted everyone to know that her husband died a hero. &#8216;Corey dove on his family to protect them last night at this rally,&#8217; <\/strong>he said.\u2026&#8221;<br>[emphasis mine]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>And, finally, good for Pennsylvania&#8217;s governor, who apparently got the okay from the widow before saying good things about her husband.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"family\"><\/a>Family, Country, and Priorities<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/live\/election-biden-trump-campaign-updates-07-13-2024\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20240526ff\/20240713-AP-video-TrumpButlerPennsylvania-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Evan Vucci's photo (AP): Donald Trump and Secret Service, shortly after Trump was shot. (July 13, 2024) via AP News, used w\/o permission.\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Donald Trump and Secret Service, shortly after he was shot. (July 13, 2024) Evan Vucci&#8217;s photo, via AP.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Again, I care about what happens in my country. I think the election looming this November matters, and so does the national convention happening this week.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/corey-comperatore-a-father-protecting-his-family\/#2\">2<\/a><\/sup> But I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s <strong>all<\/strong> that matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the &#8220;original cell of social life&#8221;, family matters. But it shouldn&#8217;t be at the top of my priorities. That&#8217;s where God belongs. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2113, 2207)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, I think Corey Comperatore did the right thing, protecting his family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I regret, very much, that he died while doing so. Human life, all human life, is precious. And that&#8217;s another topic:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/dignitas-infinita-infinite-dignity-a-very-quick-look\/\">&#8216;Dignitas Infinita&#8217;, &#8216;Infinite Dignity&#8217;: a Very Quick Look<\/a>&#8221; <br>(April 13, 2024)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/capital-punishment-it-could-be-worse\/\">Capital Punishment: It Could be Worse<\/a>&#8221; <br>(February 3, 2024)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/hamas-harvard-ukraine-and-alaska-air-looking-for-a-bright-side\/\">Hamas, Harvard, Ukraine and Alaska Air: Looking for a Bright Side<\/a>&#8221; <br>(October 28, 2023)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/election-year-weirdness-an-american-tradition\/\">Election-Year Weirdness: An American Tradition<\/a>&#8221; <br>(October 21, 2020)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/death-came-to-dayton\/\">Death Came to Dayton<\/a>&#8221; <br>(August 6, 2019)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-black-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-black-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"1\"><\/a>1<\/sup> Saturday&#8217;s incident feels close to home. Maybe that&#8217;s because Butler, Pennsylvania, is about the size of the nearest big town:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alexandria,_Minnesota\">Alexandria, Minnesota<\/a> (very roughly the size of Butler, Pennsylvania, and about a half-hour down the road)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Attempted_assassination_of_Donald_Trump\">Attempted assassination of Donald Trump<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Butler,_Pennsylvania\">Butler, Pennsylvania<\/a> (population about 13,000)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sauk_Centre,_Minnesota\">Sauk Centre, Minnesota<\/a> (population about 4,500, and my home since the 1980s.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"2\"><\/a>2<\/sup> Important, yes; all-important, no:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/2024_Republican_National_Convention\">2024 Republican National Convention<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/2024_United_States_presidential_election\">2024 United States presidential election<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/United_States_presidential_election\">United States presidential election<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s how I learned that someone tried to kill Donald Trump. Our number-two daughter and granddaughter were visiting over the weekend. We were talking about something entirely different when our number-two daughter looked at her smartphone \u2014 one of those &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/corey-comperatore-a-father-protecting-his-family\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"A quick look at the spectator who was killed at a Trump campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania, why family matters, and priorities.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"Corey Comperatore: a Father Protecting His Family","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[154],"tags":[16,84,15,34],"class_list":["post-8258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discursive-detours","tag-america","tag-family","tag-life-issues","tag-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Dwtw-29c","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8258"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8265,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8258\/revisions\/8265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}