P
PolarBear25
Guest
From an e-mail I received today..
The unsung heroes.
As a veteran, I feel a great deal of pride in seeing my brothers and sisters who have served receive the praises of the the general public. With so much bantering back and forth taking place over the war in Iraq right now, I am pleased to see that Oklahoma will be the starting point for the Vets for Victory Rallies that will cover the nation (Lord, willing). Our men and women in uniform who place themselves in harm's way every day to protect our freedom deserve a whole lot more than a rally, but it is most assuredly a starting point.
But I want to take a moment to remember the unsung heroes of our community: The firefighters and law enforcement.
They wake up each morning, put on their uniform, head off to work knowing that the distinct possibility exists that it may be their last and they do it not looking for public acclaim or fanfare. They do it because they care and like our military, are morbidly underpaid considering the amount of risk they face each day.
Our firefighters, our police officers, and members of the Sheriff's Department are all compensated horribly for the work they do and if you have seen some of the "reality television shows" where they are featured, rarely do they even receive a simple thanks. You know, I've been thinking about this MAPS III thing and if it were decided that the tax revenue would be used for public safety, I would be the first to join the bandwagon in supporting the proposal. I would volunteer my time, my energy (what little I have these days), and all my resources to fighting for its passage.
In my office, I have a baseball cap given to me by the FOP and I will never wear it because a cop gave it to me.
I have, sitting prominently on my desk, a coin from the Oklahoma City Police FOP that I am not sure just what the significance of it may be - but I know that a cop in uniform gave it to me so it will not be used for anything.
I also have a coffee cup given to me by Capt. Jeff Becker that will not be used because it was a gift from a police officer.
In my collection, I have a cap given to me by a Midwest City Police Officer that I will not wear because my fat head is unworthy of wearing it.
To digress for a moment and talk politics, endorsements don't tend to mean a whole lot at the end of the day. But when I see that a candidate has been endorsed by firefighters or by police officers, I stand up and take notice. You probably should too.
I don't know how to show firefighters and law enforcement adequately that they are appreciated. I'm not a lobbyist, so I can't "lobby" for increased pay for them, but I can tell my legislators that we need to do something. They don't have a fund to which I can contribute. I suppose all I can do is to say "thank you" and remember them in my prayers and whenever the opportunity comes about, to tell folks like you that we need to make sure that our public safety officers are given the respect and courtesy they are due.
Firefighters and law enforcement are our unsung heroes - we have Veteran's Day and rightfully so, but perhaps we need to have Public Safety Day as well.
The unsung heroes.
As a veteran, I feel a great deal of pride in seeing my brothers and sisters who have served receive the praises of the the general public. With so much bantering back and forth taking place over the war in Iraq right now, I am pleased to see that Oklahoma will be the starting point for the Vets for Victory Rallies that will cover the nation (Lord, willing). Our men and women in uniform who place themselves in harm's way every day to protect our freedom deserve a whole lot more than a rally, but it is most assuredly a starting point.
But I want to take a moment to remember the unsung heroes of our community: The firefighters and law enforcement.
They wake up each morning, put on their uniform, head off to work knowing that the distinct possibility exists that it may be their last and they do it not looking for public acclaim or fanfare. They do it because they care and like our military, are morbidly underpaid considering the amount of risk they face each day.
Our firefighters, our police officers, and members of the Sheriff's Department are all compensated horribly for the work they do and if you have seen some of the "reality television shows" where they are featured, rarely do they even receive a simple thanks. You know, I've been thinking about this MAPS III thing and if it were decided that the tax revenue would be used for public safety, I would be the first to join the bandwagon in supporting the proposal. I would volunteer my time, my energy (what little I have these days), and all my resources to fighting for its passage.
In my office, I have a baseball cap given to me by the FOP and I will never wear it because a cop gave it to me.
I have, sitting prominently on my desk, a coin from the Oklahoma City Police FOP that I am not sure just what the significance of it may be - but I know that a cop in uniform gave it to me so it will not be used for anything.
I also have a coffee cup given to me by Capt. Jeff Becker that will not be used because it was a gift from a police officer.
In my collection, I have a cap given to me by a Midwest City Police Officer that I will not wear because my fat head is unworthy of wearing it.
To digress for a moment and talk politics, endorsements don't tend to mean a whole lot at the end of the day. But when I see that a candidate has been endorsed by firefighters or by police officers, I stand up and take notice. You probably should too.
I don't know how to show firefighters and law enforcement adequately that they are appreciated. I'm not a lobbyist, so I can't "lobby" for increased pay for them, but I can tell my legislators that we need to do something. They don't have a fund to which I can contribute. I suppose all I can do is to say "thank you" and remember them in my prayers and whenever the opportunity comes about, to tell folks like you that we need to make sure that our public safety officers are given the respect and courtesy they are due.
Firefighters and law enforcement are our unsung heroes - we have Veteran's Day and rightfully so, but perhaps we need to have Public Safety Day as well.
