Editor’s Note: PoliceOne “First Person” essays are the place where P1 Members and Columnists candidly share their own unique view of the world. This is a platform from which our members can share their own personal insights on issues confronting cops today, as well as opinions, observations, and advice on living life behind the thin blue line. This week’s feature is from P1 SWAT Contributor Glenn French, a Sergeant with the Sterling Heights (Mich.) Police Department. Want to share your own perspective with other P1 Members? Send us an e-mail with your story.
 |
By Sgt. Glenn French
Sterling Heights (Mich.) Police Department
Recently, a friend shared with me some photos of a funeral that was for a returning Army Warrior from Iraq. The photos depicted country streets lined with men, women, and children that had all stopped what ever they were doing that day to honor the fallen Warrior. The images reminded me how much I love this country and why I wear a shield.
Most of these grateful citizens were holding large American flags in their hands and if they didn’t have a flag then most of them had a hand over their hearts.
A U.P.S. delivery driver was pulled off the road and stood at attention with his hand over his heart. The cars in the procession all had American flags in the passenger windows as they drove past.
School children were standing elbow to elbow and all of them were waiving small parade style American flags. Business owners and customers stopped doing business long enough to come outside and pay their respects along the side of the street with their hands over their hearts as the procession passed.
The theme here is simple, these Americans were honoring a Patriot Warrior. They also wore the grief on their face as if it were their own husband, father or brother passing them when that Hurst with the flag draped coffin slowly drove by.
To witness this type of Patriotism is a reminder of why we risk our tomorrows for these good Americans. Whether we hit the streets everyday in a squad car or we gear up for another patrol mission over seas, we all have one thing in common, we are all Patriot Warriors.
You can find no greater Patriot than the one whom risks his life for his country. I would like to remind you Warriors out there that the silent majority, values and cherishes the Patriot that fights for his country. It is the Warrior whom they rely on daily for their safety, peace and freedom.
It is easy to lose focus of the true meaning of our Warrior Spirit. Every day we are confronted with people who’s values are less than desirable. Every day the news media reports only the things we do wrong. Every day we battle with mortality as we work in the world that most people fear. As, I leave for work I kiss my youngest son on the forehead without hesitating, knowing that this could be the last. It is this kind of commitment that makes the Patriot Warrior.
Every day we must remind ourselves that we are America’s Patriot Warriors.
My definition of a Patriot Warrior: Those men and woman whom dress for battle every day, willing to sacrifice their own life to fight for and preserve the peace and freedoms of all Americans.
When I think of a Patriot Warrior I think of my father, who is a retired Command Sergeant Major with the U.S. Army. After serving two tours in Viet-Nam he retuned home and was hitch hiking in uniform from the airport to our home. He was met with people that preferred to spit at him then give him a ride home to his infant son and wife. Many years would pass but when the Gulf War started to take root he didn’t hesitate to defend those same Americans who cast him aside. He served in the Gulf War and his selflessness to serve in another war is a shinning example of a Patriot Warrior.
The great Shawnee Warrior, Tecumseh (Crouching Panther) said it best:
Let us form one body, one heart, and defend to the last warrior our country, our homes, our liberty, and the graves of our fathers. -Tecumseh, 1813
So, regardless if you patrol the streets in a blue uniform or patrol foreign deserts in camouflage remember that the silent majority in this country counts on you to deliver peace and freedom.
Patriots of long ago count on us, as we are America’s sons of patriotism. It is our duty to honor their sacrifices and carry the torch of freedom.
“ Nos es Pium Proeliator”
