It takes courage to confront injustice. Last Friday night, three men made a choice to intervene during a hateful anti-Muslim rant against two teenage girls on a train in Portland, Ore. Two of those three men died, stabbed by an avowed white supremacist.

At the Monitor, we’re well aware that the tragic event is a few days old now. But we thought we should pause and recognize heroism when it happens.

Ricky John Best, an Army veteran and married father of four, was a hero for what he did as a civilian Friday.

Taliesin Myrddin Namkai Meche, who had just begun his first job out of college, exemplified courage Friday. He acted on his highest principles.

And Micah David-Cole Fletcher, who describes himself as an aspiring poet, put the safety of others before his own.  

The perpetrator of the crime should be, and likely will be, forgotten. But these three heroes won’t.