Biden, recognize those who died for freedom’s sake

More than two years ago on this page, we called on then-President Donald Trump to honor the sacrifice of Wendi Winters with a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Wendi was a colleague and friend who died on June 28, 2018, defending our newsroom from a shotgun-wielding attacker who also murdered Rob Hiaasen, Gerald Fischman, John McNamara and Rebecca Smith. It was the deadliest attack on an American newsroom in history.

U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger and

U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin were kind enough to honor our call by organizing a letter to the president one week later, eventually signed by all 10 members of Maryland’s congressional delegation, urging him to award Wendi the honor posthumously. Over the ensuing months, we waited. The president would go on to present the award to figures in entertainment, politics and sports. He honored those both living and dead.

Wendi’s name would never appear on his list.

Today, we renew our call for this honor and expand it. Wendi died protecting the Freedom of the Press, one of the fundamental liberties forming the bedrock of this nation. She willingly threw herself against a murderous attack from a man who wanted nothing less than to silence a news organization that had written something that angered him. He attacked to kill the truth.

But the remaining victims of that day are also worthy of honor. Rob, Gerald and John were journalists who died for choosing a profession that aims to shine a light on the world. And while Rebecca was not a journalist, she was killed for merely associating with them.

We call on our members of Congress to submit these named for the medal. We urge President Joe Biden to award it.

Using active shooter training she recently completed, Wendi saved at least one life that day and may have saved five others. She grabbed her trash can and recycling bin, hardly fearsome weapons, and ran at the killer armed with a shotgun shouting for him to stop.

We’ll never know what went through her mind in those final moments. We’d like to believe she was planning to knock the shooter down and beat him with her weapons. That would have been heroic on its own, and an indication that she had not given up on saving herself.

Regardless of her intent, though, Wendi exhibited the kind of bravery that is in the finest tradition of her family, the Naval Academy and the Navy. She was the daughter of a Naval Academy graduate and the mother of two others. She believed in the ideals of sacrifice understood by all those who serve in uniform.

In the years since that day, Wendi’s sacrifice and those of Rob, John, Gerald and Rebecca have been widely honored.

Last month, the Carnegie Hero Fund

Commission awarded Wendi its medal for her actions that day. Rob has been recognized as a mentor to young journalists now spread across the country. Gerald’s and John’s written words continue to echo, and Rebecca’s memory is beloved by those who miss her dearly.

Maryland has set aside Press Freedom Day to recognize their profession. A memorial will be dedicated in Annapolis this summer, and another in Washington is being organized after Trump signed legislation allowing the idea to move forward.

For that honor, we offer our thanks to the former president.

But the medal is awarded to those who have made an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.

It is a just and fitting honor.

Wendi, Rob, Gerald, John and Rebecca died for freedom’s sake.