I occasionally get turned off by the shouts of flag-wavers who sometimes launch into overheated reactions to certain outcomes. Let me be clear: I’m an unapologetic flag-waver myself; we fly the flag at our house proudly to commemorate many patriotic holidays throughout the year. But occasionally the chants seem a bit out of place during some events.

The end of the Boston bombing manhunt, though, is a case where the cheers were more than warranted. They were directed at federal, state and local law enforcement authorities who somehow – miraculously, in my view – managed to take the second Boston Marathon bombing suspect into custody alive. Crowds cheered the police as they drove away from the scene of the climactic siege.

The 19-year-old suspect had been shot apparently in an earlier fire fight that killed his older brother. He was holed up in a boat parked in front of a home in Watertown, Mass. SWAT teams fired many rounds at the young man as he cowered in the boat.

Negotiators reportedly talked him into surrendering. Now the greater Boston area can start to return to some sense of normal living. The rest of us, far from the scene of the tragic events, can peel ourselves away from our TV sets and computer screens as well.

The police and FBI deserve the highest praise possible for capturing a live suspect accused of committing a heinous act this past Monday. The speed with which the FBI caught up with the two suspects after releasing their photos to the public on Thursday simply is breathtaking.

The FBI, along with Massachusetts and Boston-area police authorities now will be able to do the jobs for which they all are highly trained. They’ll let the young man regain his strength from the wounds he suffered and then they’ll pry some answers from him.

All Americans will await his response to a fundamental question, which no doubt will lead to other answers: Why?