Sean “Vile Rat” Smith (1978-2012)

On September 11, while working at the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, Smith noted to his online friends that he was concerned for his safety. A mob—presumably incensed over an anti-Islam film circulating on the Internet, but just as likely a group of terrorists using the unrest as cover and using the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks as cause for violence—had gathered outside the building, throwing rocks and grenades and seeking to storm the consulate. Smith told his friends that he saw one of the police supposed to be guarding the building instead taking pictures of the chaos. Shortly afterwards, Smith typed the last two things his friends would ever read from him: “FUCK. GUNFIRE.” They never heard from him again.

Smith was found dead after the consulate had been stormed and burned. He died of smoke inhalation, and was believed to have spent his final moments at his post, destroying sensitive information he was tasked with safeguarding. Smith is survived by his wife, Heather, and their two young children. (In the attack Ambassador Christopher Stevens and two ex-Navy SEALS providing security were also slain.)

Less than 24 hours after Smith’s death, and well before the mainstream media was able to identify him, one of Smith’s Eve Online friends, Alex Gianturco, informed the Eve and Something Awful communities that Smith was gone. He eulogized his friend, whom he had met in person only a handful of times, but had known for years, with genuine sorrow on his website. Gianturco’s news was met with an unprecedented outpouring of sympathy and grieving online by thousands of Eve Online and Something Awful friends. An online fundraising effort at YouCaring.com soon launched to help cover Sean’s final expenses and to establish a college fund for his children. Within days, it had received more than $100,000 in donations.

The Internet has redefined who we befriend and how we share our lives with them. Smith’s many friends are mourning the loss of a man they never shook hands with, but that does not make their grief any less real. We often wonder who will miss us when we are gone; today, that number may be far greater than we realize. Before long, who we choose to provide for in our final plans may include all kinds of people that traditionally never would have received a second thought. Somehow, in a world that seems so filled with hate, there are more friends and loved ones connected to each other than ever before. If that is not reason enough for hope, then nothing is.