Sometimes the old stories are worth retelling.

Consider the kindness of the Choctaw.

The US president played host yesterday to Leo Varadkar, the Irish premier. That’s part of an annual green-tie rite, a passing of shamrock sprigs and pleasantries between allies.

Earlier this week Mr. Varadkar was in Oklahoma marking another deep bond. In 1847, at the height of the potato famine, the Choctaw Nation reflected upon the plight of the Irish and decided to act. They pulled together $170 (about $4,500 today) and sent it to Dublin. Ireland never forgot. A sculpture in Cork, called Kindred Spirits, was unveiled last year. Choctaw Chief Gary Batton was in attendance.

Consider the fearlessness of Hugh Thompson.

A half-century ago today, the Army helicopter pilot was circling a Vietnam village called My Lai. He saw noncombatants being cut down, so he landed his craft between fellow US troops and villagers to stop the killing. The fallout of that day would continue for decades. Mr. Thompson would be pilloried before he finally was honored.

He returned 20 years ago. “One of the ladies that we had helped out that day came up to me and asked, ‘Why didn’t the people who committed these acts come back with you?’ ” Thompson said, according to a new Los Angeles Times account. “And I was just devastated. And then she finished her sentence: she said, ‘So we could forgive them.’ ”

The powerful selflessness of small actors, met with the unbounded, undimmed power of gratitude.

Now to our five stories for your Friday, highlighting skillful adjustment, the durability of the democratic ideal, and the importance of correcting false narratives.