Fear is afoot, but this woman has courage to boot.

Though missing part of her left leg, Rebekah Gregory nonetheless crossed the Boston Marathon finish line April 20 while people everywhere cheered her on.

Due to injuries sustained from the bombing at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, Gregory, now 27, had her left leg amputated below the knee last November.

Double bombings near the finish line killed three people and injured at least 264. Gregory was one of at least 17 victims who lost limbs.

The homicide victims were Martin Richard, 8, of Boston, Krystle Campbell, 29, of Medford, Massachusetts, and Lingzi Lu, 23, a graduate student at Boston University originally from China.

Terrorists who do such heinous things to wage war on defenseless victims in the name of Allah are demoralizing. It is mind-boggling how one can harbor such hate while using religion as justification to kill and maim.

People like Gregory can give all of us courage and hope.

A severed leg may have slowed Gregory, but it did not stop the plucky single mother from Texas. She’s pretty, athletic and valiant.

Doctors told Gregory she wasn’t ready to run the entire length of the marathon, so she compromised and ran only the last 3 miles. But a marathon is not just about the long distance run; it’s the defeat of an enormous personal challenge, according to a CBS news story Monday, April 20.

“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” Gregory said to CBS. “When I crossed the finish line, I got my life back today.”

Perhaps America got some of its life back too, when Gregory ran those 3 long miles. Life is about living, and it takes more than some twisted terrorist to bully Americans.

In a CBS news poll, 60 percent of Americans favored the death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the two brothers responsible for the bombings.

Should he be sentenced to death or life in prison?

His brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, met his maker. In his effort to evade law enforcement, Dzhokhar hit and dragged his brother with an SUV.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev remains defiant and more than a little out of touch with reality. He flipped off the court camera April 21 and is said to be withdrawn during court proceedings. It would appear the addled young man wants to martyr himself.

Fear may be on the other foot when justice is served, whether it’s a date with the executioner or a cell.

In the meantime, let us forget him and celebrate our knights in uniform who serve their country with pride, and hometown heroes like Gregory.