Forgive me if I seem as though I am repeating myself, but I feel this overwhelming need to offer a word of thanks to men and women who answer the call to protect my family and me.
What brings this about? Well, my wife and I took our granddaughter to a petting zoo here in Princeton, Texas, the other day. We were standing in line waiting to look at some exotic critters housed in an indoor area. A young man with his wife and baby daughter was standing next to me; he extended his hand and, after looking at my Vietnam War veteran gimme cap, offered a word of “thanks for your service.”
I accepted the thanks and asked him what he did for a living. “I am with the fire service. In Plano,” he said. “Oh, so you’re a firefighter?” I responded. He nodded. With that I extended my hand and thanked him for his service to the community and to the country.
We must thank these individuals whenever we can. My service, as limited as it was in the old days, is over. The military personnel who are serving us now carry on that tradition of service. The young Americans who suit up to fight fires, or to patrol our streets and highways in police cruisers, or work on ambulance crews, or tend to the sick and injured in hospitals, or care for older Americans in assisted living centers … they’re the heroes who need to know the rest of us appreciate what they do.
Our hearts should break whenever we hear of a police officer shot or hurt in some fashion by someone who is breaking the law. So should we mourn the loss of firefighters who rush toward burning buildings.
The brief encounter at the critter exhibit in our city was welcome. I always appreciate the good word from those who recognize that I am an old man who once served in the military. As I told the young man the other day, the nation has grown up and matured since the time we were coming back into civilian life during the Vietnam War … and I am thrilled to see that we have gotten past the bitterness of that terrible era.
Those days are long gone. Today’s heroes are the men and women who suit up to protect our nation against those who would do us harm as well as those who answer the call when we’re in trouble.