Compass Points - St Patrick
Individual acts of heroism
Compass Points - St Patrick
Individual acts of heroism
March 15, 2026
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Sunday is a good day for reflection.
This Sunday, as we approach St. Patrick’s Day, is a good day to reflect on individual acts of heroism. The history of the Marine Corps is a mosaic of individual acts of heroism, some in combat and some in garrison, some well celebrated and some known only to the people who were there.
Recently, on a routine day in a college classroom at Old Dominion University in Virginia, some young heroes stepped forward.
Many news outlets are reporting how on March 12, 2026, a stranger interrupted an Old Dominion class asking if the class was ROTC. When told it was an ROTC related class, the stranger pulled out a gun and started firing.
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Army Lt. Col. Brandon Shah was teaching his class in the ROTC program at the school in Norfolk, Virginia, on Thursday when witnesses say Mohamed Jalloh walked in, asked if the class was ROTC, shouted “Allahu Akbar” and opened fire.
Multiple students attacked him, one stabbed him and the students “rendered him no longer alive,” said Dominique Evans, special agent in charge of the agency’s Norfolk field office.
-- NBC4 Washington
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When the shooter fatally shot the class instructor, Army Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, the students did not run or cower. Instead, without hesitation, without a thought of their own safety, several ROTC students rushed the shooter. In the struggle, the shooter was fatally stabbed, saving the lives of not only the students in that classroom, but perhaps other students in other classrooms.
Advancing into danger to help others is what heroes do.
This week as St Patrick is celebrated, most who celebrate will recall nothing about St Patrick’s heroism. St Patrick was not born in Ireland. He was born in England, but as a teen he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and forced into slavery in Ireland. Ireland at the time was a barbaric, pagan land ruled by the cult of Druids.
Later, when St Patrick escaped from Ireland, the reasonable thing would have been to avoid Ireland for the rest of his life and live comfortably in England. Instead, St. Patrick resolved to advance back into Ireland, not for his sake, but for theirs.
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St. Patrick (c. 385–461 CE) was not Irish by birth but was born in Roman Britain. As a teenager, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and sold into slavery in Ireland, where he spent several years herding livestock. During this time, he turned to Christianity for solace, eventually escaping and returning to his family.
However, Patrick felt called to return to Ireland—not as a slave, but as a missionary. After training for the priesthood and later becoming a bishop, he embarked on his mission to convert the Irish to Christianity. Unlike previous attempts to spread Christianity through force or cultural suppression, Patrick adapted his teachings to Irish customs, incorporating familiar symbols and traditions into Christian practice. The most famous example of this is his use of the shamrock to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity.
Patrick’s mission was remarkably successful, leading to the gradual conversion of the Irish people. He established churches, monasteries, and schools, laying the foundation for Ireland’s transformation into a center of Christian learning and scholarship. Pagan traditions were not entirely erased but were often blended into Christian practices, creating a uniquely Irish form of Christianity.
-- Learn Western Culture
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As we approach St Patrick’s Day, Compass Points salutes the Old Dominion University ROTC heroes, all US military fighting or assisting in Operation Epic Fury, and all those working to ensure the Marine Corps of tomorrow is even stronger than the Marine Corps of today.
The history of the United States, as well as the history of the Marine Corps, is a mosaic of individual acts of heroism, some in combat and some in garrison, some well celebrated and some known only to the people who were there.
In the struggles and challenges of life, there can be no progress, without individuals willing to take a risk, to do the unexpected, to do the unreasonable, for the benefit of others.
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Saint Pat & the Snakes
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Great Saint Patrick, as we all know,
Died three, one seven, in four, six, oh.
Young Pat was English and still at home
When his life turned, Twilight Zone.
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Irish pirates took Pat in hand
And snatched him back to Ireland.
For years Pat pined without redress,
In pagan Irish wilderness.
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Instead of giving up all hope,
Young Pat’s faith began to grow.
With his much stronger Godly faith,
Pat at last made his escape.
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Back in England, Pat was free.
Asked himself, ‘What should I be?’
He conceived a mighty goal,
Become a Priest, save Irish souls!
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Pat returned and preached nativity.
In the land of his captivity.
It was not Pat, but the Irish then,
Who were set free to live again.
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And so Saint Pat without a doubt
Did drive the Irish snakes all out.
The snakes of fear he made depart
From every aching Irish heart.
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So cheer Saint Pat each year at Spring.
Eat corned beef and wear some green.
And all the snakes in our lives now,
May Saint Pat help us drive them out!
-- JDK
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NBC4 Washington
Old Dominion ROTC student stabbed gunman who killed professor
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Learn Western Culture
St. Patrick and the Transformation of Ireland: From Paganism to a Center of Christian Learning
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“rendered him no longer alive,” said Dominique Evans, special agent. -- No wasted words there!
“Virginia has a bloody record of avoidable cold blooded murders in State designated “gun free zones”. Sic Semper Tyrannis” “thus always to tyrants”as we know traces back to 44BC”, echoing through the assassination of Julius Caesar. It remains on the Seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia where recently and alarmingly, a “Tyrant” has become Governor, made worse this deceiver was accompanied by a majority of other tyrants in the Commonwealth’s legislature. Gun free zones invite terrorist and murderers to slay the unarmed. In this case it is reported that the perpetrator was a Convicted Islamic Terrorist who had been released early from prison. Several courageous Patriots one or more of which followed the fictitious NCIS** character Former Marine Sniper Leroy Jethro Gibbs’s famous **Rule #9**: **"Never go anywhere without a knife”,and sent this monster to hell.