The personal photographs we saw of those killed in last week’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida could have been from any town or city in America.

Candid shots reflected much happier times in the lives of the young victims.

One shows a smiling Jennifer Bloom Guttenberg, a talented 14-year-old dancer who her friends remembered had a mischievous sense of humor.

Freshman Alyssa Alhadeff wears a broad smile in her soccer team uniform; another shows her getting a hug from her proud “pop pop.”

There’s Nicholas Dworet eating ice cream with a friend. The 17-year-old senior recently received a swimming scholarship to the University of Indianapolis.

Another photo shows Carmen Schentrup, 16, a 2017 National Merit Scholar semi-finalist, looking regal in her formal attire.

Gina Montalto, smiling sweetly, is shown with a group of friends in the school gym. The 14-year-old was supposed to be in Tampa this past weekend, competing with the school’s color guard unit in a marching band competition.

There was no shortage of heroes in last Wednesday’s tragic shootings.

Chris Hixon, 49, the school’s popular athletic director and wrestling coach, was one of the professional staff members cut down by the gunfire. Eleven years ago, Hixson’s teaching and coaching careers were placed on hold in 2007 when he deployed to Iraq as a U.S. Naval Reservist.

He later served in support of Navy Security Forces Key West and Navy Operational Support Center Miami. A family photograph shows Chris proudly saluting his son, Thomas Hixon, during his retirement ceremony from the Navy.

He leaves behind a wife, two sons and two grandchildren.

Geography teacher Scott Beigel, 35, was killed while trying to lock the door of a classroom used to shelter students. He had a Pennsylvania connection, having worked at Camp Starlight, a 385-acre brother/sister campus located in the “endless mountains” in the Northeast corner of the state.

One Camp Starlight colleague remembered him as having a heart to craft strong and caring people. That same passion to help others proved out last week when he paid the ultimate sacrifice protecting his students.

Another heart-wrenching personal photograph shows Aaron Feis, a burly assistant football coach, cradling his baby daughter dressed in a pink birthday dress.

Feis who also worked as a security guard in the school, died a true hero. When someone called and reported loud bangs at the shooting site and asked if they were firecrackers, Feis was heard to reply, ‘No, that is not firecrackers.’

He rushed to the sound of the gunfire in his golf cart and was last seen shielding students from the shooter. Feis was taken to a hospital were he died of the gunshot wounds.

Messages about Feis poured in on social media.

“Everyone loved him ... Always gave his all to making us better. Definitely learned a lot from him,” one former student athlete wrote.

Students who were potential leaders in all fields - education, music, sports and military - had their lives cut short in last week’s massacre. Members of the school’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps certainly distinguished themselves.

Colton Haab, 17, and other JROTC members had just finished drills Wednesday when the shooting began. He and his captain were able to lead about 90 kids into a classroom used by the school’s JROTC members. They used sheets of Kevlar hanging on the walls to act as a shield and slow the bullets down.

Had the gunman tried to enter the classroom, Haab and another JROTC member planned to use a fire extinguisher and some two-by-four pieces of wood as weapons.

Peter Wang, 15, a fellow JROTC member, spent the last moments of his young life trying to save others. Dressed in his JROTC uniform, Wang was last seen holding a door open so others could flee.

The JROTC, to which Wang and Haab belonged, is a school program for potential U.S. military officers. Had he lived to fulfill his goal of serving in the military, Wang had the makings to be an excellent officer.

The Medal of Honor, the most coveted of all U.S. decorations, is the military’s reward for meritorious acts on the field of battle. Had Wang been a few years older and been serving in the military, he would have qualified for the MOH for the ultimate sacrifice he made in helping his fellow comrades.

Jim Zbick is the former national news editor at BP’s parent paper, the Lehighton Times News. He continues to be a regular opinion contributor to that paper.