IF THIS were any normal day, our editorial would be about former Gov. Carl Gutierrez’s reported decision to pull out of the race for Public Auditor.

This is a big deal for the island, and lots of questions are raised. A group of leading Democrats has apparently written the former governor a letter urging him to forgo the OPA race for the good of the party so he will be free to lead their campaign effort to retain control of the Legislature.

Was this just as it seems ... or was Uncle Carl’s unrivaled political antenna telling him he had little chance to prevail against Doris Flores Brooks, and the letter was orchestrated as a face-saving way for him to refocus his efforts where they might do more good?

Either way, we won’t be talking about it ... because today is not an ordinary day.

Throughout the United States, flags are flying at half-staff due to the tragic deaths of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans at the hands of a large group of well-armed Islamic militants in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.

Here on Guam, we are all too familiar with the scene of patriotic sons and daughters coming back from the Middle East in body bags. With one of the highest percentages of military service of any region in the U.S., we understand very well the mixture of pain and sorrow people on the homefront feel when one of their own gives his or her life in service to their country.

And so, in keeping with the presidential directive issued by President Barak Obama, GovGuam’s flags are also flying at half-staff, along with those at Andersen Air Force Base and Naval Base Guam.

This is as it should be.

And if you should happen to pass one of those flags, please take a brief moment to offer a prayer for Ambassador Stevens, and to reflect on just how big a loss his death is for the U.S., Libya and the world.

Ambassador Stevens was not a soldier; he was a peace maker and a nation builder. But he was no less dedicated to his country than anyone on the front lines – and, as events have shown, his service was no less dangerous.

During the Arab Spring, when the Libyan people were struggling to throw off the yoke of Moammar Gadhafi, Stevens slipped in to the besieged city of Benghazi, and for the next six months, he served as the United States’ main liaison with the rebels. He was the man responsible for coordinating America’s military strategy, financial assistance and political work with the Libyan opposition.

Without him, their efforts might not have succeeded and, ironically, he was said to have been widely loved by most of the people of the Libyan city where he was killed.

Speaking of Stevens’ death, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is reported to have said, "He risked his life to stop a tyrant, then gave his life trying to help build a better Libya. The world needs more Chris Stevenses."

Amen to that.