It’s been a good week for Walter Viger, the Turner postman honored as “National Hero of the Year” by the National Letter Carriers Association and feted in Washington, D.C., by Sen. Olympia Snowe and Sen. Susan Collins.

Not so bad, for somebody who believes his heroism was all in a day’s work.

Viger came across an apartment fire while making his postal rounds on Knox Street in Lewiston last April. The resident, 72-year-old Carmen Palardy, was disoriented and afire when Viger found her inside the smoke-filled rooms.

Postal workers must weather whatever trials befall their appointed rounds: rain, sleet, snow, hail – the usual atmospheric maladies. Nothing in their motto, however, says anything about fire, smoke or the threat of singed skin or choked airways from rescuing people in danger.

This postman, however, didn’t think twice.

In doing so, he likely saved Palardy’s life, her home and the homes of others in her building. He may feel his actions were in the course of a day’s work, but those he saved, and his community, are grateful to him.

(He didn’t abandon all of his postal instincts, however. When another resident told him about her trapped Doberman pinscher, he politely agreed to watch her three children while she went for the dog. “Well, over 30 years, I’ve gotten a little tired of dogs,” Viger says.)

Too often, we don’t know who delivers our mail. We can get consumed by what’s inside the envelopes – the steady stream of bills, credit card offers, flyers and greeting cards – it’s easy to forget the human element involved in shuffling these millions of pieces of paper across the country and around the world.

The bureaucracy is almost as massive as the mail. With almost 800,000 workers, the U.S. Postal Service employs more people than Chrysler, General Motors and Ford Motor Co. combined, according to the National Association of Letter Carriers. Only one American entity, Wal-Mart, boasts a larger number of employees.

Thousands of Walter Vigers are out there, making their rounds. His story reminds us of their presence, and how it’s a comfort to know somebody is watching out for us.

Viger does for the people along his route, and has earned – and deserves – all the accolades he’s received.

We add our our hearty congratulations, as well.