I was working on my flag pole in the front yard a week or so ago (it’s one of those telescoping, 20 ft poles) collapsing it so I could bring the top down to get to the US flag and replace it with a new flag. I had my "Army Veteran" hat on.
A man and his son are riding their bikes past my house... They stop. He asks, "Are you a veteran?"
I look at them and say to him, "Yes, Sir, I am."
He gets off his bike, walks over to me and introduces himself, saying, "I'm such and so, and I'm a _______ County Sheriff Deputy. If you drive this street to get to the freeway, you'll see the car sometimes at my house."
I'd seen in many times.
I shook his hand and told him I appreciate what he's doing, that there is no way *I* would get in that car, day after day, and put up with a public that all too often hates him because of his badge.
He told me that in a short time, he was leaving to join the Coast Guard. And without saying why, I totally got it.
He is driven to serve. And in 2026, the cost to his family and himself was far too high, day in and day out, so he was making a major career change so that he could continue to serve, but also continue having a family that would not be faced with the stress of wondering, day after day: "Will my husband/father come home tonight?"
I didn't ask him what job he was enlisting for. He was, perhaps, 30 or so. He's an adult who charts his own course. And jobs in the Coast Guard can be extremely hazardous (A Coastie was just killed just off Astoria, Oregon a few days ago) but his job as a deputy requires him to face danger which, IMHO, is geometrically more... for geometrically less... than any job he's signing up for.
We chatted for a few minutes... I thanked him and his son for stopping by. Wished him luck in his new career. Told him I appreciated what he has done and will be doing.
He thanked me for my service... which lacked anything close to the dangers he experienced on a routine basis... and I left him with this:
"You and your family were worth it."
As were you all.
God Bless the men and women in Blue.
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