The residents of Crozet, (Croe-zay) Virginia, are unaccustomed to seeing their town on the evening news and the front pages of America’s newspapers. But that happened yesterday when an Amtrak train carrying Republican members of Congress on their way to a retreat smashed into a garbage truck at a crossing, killing one and injuring six others, one critically.

Immediately, several of the passengers possessing medical training hurried to aid the victims outside the train, including Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R -Ohio), Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Reps. Michael C. Burgess (R-Tex.), Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.).

Only one of the politicians appeared to have suffered a serious injury. Rep. Jason Lewis (R-Minn.) was taken to a hospital as a precaution. He apparently suffered a concussion. He was treated and released.

The Republicans were heading to a retreat at the Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. President Trump was scheduled to address the group today.

Local residents also rushed to the scene upon hearing the crash and did what they could to help.

This quiet rural town holds an important place in my own family’s history. Miller School of Albemarle is there, and my father attended this school, graduating in a class of six young men in 1924. His home was on a farm in North Garden, about 13 miles east of Crozet, and a similar distance from Schuyler (Sky-ler), the fictitious location of the television program Walton’s Mountain. Albemarle County is beautiful, nested in a lush mountainous region in the southwestern corner of the state. Its residents tend to be politically conservative. Betsy and I noticed a preponderance of Trump-Pence yard signs there last year on our way to and from the American Shakespeare Center in nearby Staunton.

It is worth noting that no one aiding the crash victims asked to know anyone’s party affiliation. They just helped their fellow human beings. That would have happened no matter where the crash occurred. It just happened to be at Crozet, Virginia.