A Silver Lining In Baltimore

Amidst the chaos that is destroying Baltimore - and escalating racial tension nationwide - comes this story of a few very special young people doing the right thing.

A patio chair smashed the sandwich shop window.

Glass fell around Midshipman Brad Kadlubowski, seated before a window, at the Subway shop in Baltimore.

Inside, a father steered his wife and two children to the back of the shop on Saturday. His son has asthma; the father worried about tear gas.

Another chair smashed another window.

Everyone to the back, the midshipmen instructed.

Families and Naval Academy midshipmen had come for dinner before Saturday's Orioles game. Protests over the death of Freddie Gray began peacefully that day, but ended with confrontation...

Some midshipmen didn't know about the ongoing protests when they arrived Saturday in Baltimore.

"I didn't realize it would be so close to Camden Yards," said Midshipman Madisen Grinnell, 18, of Sacramento, Calif., on Monday.

She and nine other midshipmen found themselves caught in the protests.

These midshipmen directed families to the back of the Subway. Then they lined up, in front of families, as protesters passed outside, some throwing rocks. Women and children gathered farthest from the windows, except for Grinnell, the only female there from the Naval Academy.

"You're in the military and a midshipmen — you should be in the front," she insisted.

Kadlubowski, of Colorado Springs, Colo., was uninjured when glass fell around him. He escorted the store manager to the door.

"I made sure he could lock the door without problem," Kadlubowski said.

On Monday, academy officials received an email from a grateful father in the Subway shop.

"The plebes were the last to seek safety and only did so after they made sure all others were safely away from the windows," wrote Robert Oshinsky of Montgomery County. "My wife and children were scared but I believe a little less so as a result of the actions."

The midshipmen left the baseball game early and returned without incident to the Naval Academy.

"I don't think it occurred to any of us that we were doing anything special," Sabelstrom said.

It's a crying shame that our public officials don't have the same courage, integrity, and willingness to do what is right.

As long as we are fortunate enough to have people like these among us, the Navy - and our country - is in very good hands.

This photo was taken by Robert Oshinsky of Montgomery County after rioters smashed windows at a Subway sandwich shop on West Pratt Street in Baltimore on Saturday, he said. Some midshipmen from the Naval Academy were at the shop and took charge as chairs and rocks broke windows, Oshinsky said - Original Credit: (Courtesy of Robert Oshinsky, HANDOUT / April 25, 2015)

From left, Erik Sabelstrom, 19, of Colorado Springs, Colo.; Brad Kadlubowski, 19, of Colorado Springs, Colo.; Madisen Grinnell, 18, of Sacramento, Calif.; and Harrison Yost, 19, of Auburn, Ala. were among about 10 midshipmen caught in a protest Saturday in Baltimore. The midshipmen directed families to the back of a Subway sandwich shop when protesters began throwing chairs through the windows. ( By Tim Prudente, / April 26, 2015 )