After his death we learned that Blunk had an ex-wife and two children living in Nevada.

CNN: Aurora heroes: Three who gave their lives

And Jonathan Blunk -- from Reno, just 26 years old, but a veteran of three Navy tours, whose family and friends will always know that in that theater he gave his own life to save another.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Speaks to the 113th Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars | The White House

This isn't to take anything away from Blunk or the other two heroes, but to illustrate that, in spite of shortcomings, men can still recognize what it means to be a good man and act like one.

CNN: Aurora heroes: Three who gave their lives

From all accounts, these young men were average, working men in their 20s. (We know a little about Jon Blunk, but not much, and we know even less about the others.) Like all men, they had their own struggles.

CNN: Aurora heroes: Three who gave their lives

Blunk, 26, had served on the aircraft carrier the USS Nimitz for more than six years, working with the boilers and propulsion systems of the nuclear-powered vessel, and hoped to re-enlist in the military, according to his grandparents Thomas and Kay Blunk of Central, Texas, outside Lufkin.

WSJ: Colorado Shooting Took Mostly Young Lives