By Dan Marcou for Police1
Police1.com and 5.11 Tactical have partnered again to present a series of features that pay tribute to some of the many examples of Quiet Warriors in law enforcement.
These everyday heroes make a positive impact on the lives of people by going above and beyond the call of duty. The impact of their actions is felt not only by the recipients of these compassionate acts, but also by those who bear witness to them and are moved.
The Original Quiet Warrior
Quiet Warriors have always been a part of our heritage. Oklahoma lawman and U.S. Deputy Marshal Bill Tilghman was legendary for not only his courageous toughness, but also his compassionate kindness.
Tilghman exhibited that legendary courage and toughness when he captured the notorious gang leader Bill Doolin single-handedly in 1896. After Doolin was secured in jail, Tilghman demonstrated his compassionate kindness by the way he handled a small, engraved silver mug Doolin had purchased for his newborn son.
Bill saddled his horse, slid his Winchester into the rifle scabbard and the silver mug into his saddlebag, then he hit the trail. Marshal Tilghman traveled many miles, tracking down the mother and child to deliver the precious mug into the hands of that baby.
Bill Doolin’s son would grow up without knowing his notorious father. Thanks to Deputy U.S. Marshal Tilghman, however, he possessed evidence of his father’s love – the silver lining in the dark cloud that was Bill Doolin.
The tradition continues
The Quiet Warrior always goes the extra mile on behalf of a child.
For example, Sgt. Jonathon Whatley of the Dothan (Alabama) Police Department responded to a car crash in March 2016 that killed 19-year-old McKenzie Catron, who was driving home from spring break with her dog, Kai.
The dog went missing after the crash but was found, after an extensive search and Sgt. Whatley volunteered to drive 700 miles to return Kai, who was considered part of the family, to McKenzie’s grieving family in Arkansas.
Quiet Warriors also help those in need. Another example was shared nationwide in a viral video shared by a citizen who wanted to capture the kindness of Transit Officer Kenya Joyner. Joyner, a Delaware River Port Authority officer, bought a new pair of boots for a homeless man, who had no shoes on a cold November day.
Building a foundation for the future
Looking out for kids is a common thread among Quiet Warriors, and building these positive one-on-one relationships helps children understand that police are there to help.
One modern era Quiet Warrior found it impossible to drive by a child’s lemonade stand without dropping a dollar in the jar for the privilege of drinking the warmest and most sour lemonade imaginable.
Another Quiet Warrior always carried three baseball gloves and a baseball in his duty bag throughout his career in the event that he came across a lonely-looking kid. He discovered time and time again that a game of catch with a cop would cheer up most any kid and create a life-long, happy memory.
One skeptical fellow officer asked, “OK, I get the gloves, but why three?”
The matter-of-fact answer: “I have a left-handed glove in case the kid is a lefty.” The good deeds of these Quiet Warriors often become the ties that bind law enforcement to the communities they serve and the compassion of these individual officers reflects positively on the entire profession.
Most of the good deeds of Quiet Warriors are performed without fanfare and too often go unnoticed. That’s what makes this partnership between Police1.com and 5.11 Tactical so important. We need to spotlight the powerful acts of kindness performed by these men and women of law enforcement.
The spirit of service
In many ways, the Quiet Warrior is not a person at all. It is the spirit within every police officer who at one time raised his or her hand and meant every word of the oath they took.
This warrior lies within, waiting to be awakened by a circumstance that inspires an officer to take action that rises above and beyond the call of duty. This action is neither prevented nor driven by the cold dictates of policy. Rather it is born of the warm heart of the Quiet Warrior.
When Bill Tilghman was killed in the line of duty in 1924 at age 70, Bat Masterson offered a fitting eulogy that sums up the Quiet Warrior describing his friend and fellow lawman as, “the best of us all.”
About the author
Lt. Dan Marcou is an internationally-recognized, police trainer, who was a highly-decorated police officer with 33 years of full time law enforcement experience. Marcou’s awards include Police Officer of the Year, SWAT Officer of the Year, Humanitarian of the Year, and Domestic Violence Officer of the Year. Upon retiring, Lt. Marcou began writing. His Novels, “The Calling, the Making of a Veteran Cop,” “SWAT, Blue Knights in Black Armor,” “Nobody’s Heroes,” and Destiny of Heroes,” as well as his latest Non-Fiction Offering, “Law Dogs, Great Cops in American History,” are all highly acclaimed and available at Amazon