Heroes Among Us

At 7am on a Saturday morning, I walked over to Starbucks for coffee. As I entered, I noticed a police car parked near the front door. Must be an early morning shift for them, I thought.

I approached the counter and two police officers were ahead of me in line waiting for their coffee. I noticed a polite smile from the young police officer as he grabbed his iced tea from the counter. I got my coffee, set my stuff down on a table and went over to the condiment station to get some crème and sugar. The police officer was next to me doing the same.

It’s not particularly common for me to start up conversation with someone I don’t know, but I felt the need to say something to him at that moment. After several seconds of silence I finally asked,

“Just starting your shift?

He said, “Yea, actually it is my first day back in a year. I’ve been in Afghanistan”.

“Wow, I said. “That is very cool. Thank you for going to Afghanistan.”

He grabbed his coffee and made his way to the door. He said,  “You’re welcome. Its good to be back but I’ll never do it again.”

“Good luck today on your first day back!” I said.

With a grin from ear to ear, he thanked me as he walked out the door.

I sat down at my table, watched him drive away and reflected on what he said. I looked at the faces around me and thought about the countless other stories like his that never get told.

Brothers, fathers, sisters and wives, you fight for your country or your cause. You face extreme conditions, unpredictable terrain and witness unfathomable death and pain. And when your time is through, you return to the life you left behind, rejoin your families and carry on.

To all the heroes out there among us, these two words will never be enough…

THANK YOU.