A Public Servant is Laid to Rest...

Today was the memorial service for Stanley Cooper who was shot and killed on January 4th as he stood inside the front door of the Foley Federal Building. He was there like he was every other morning to protect the building, those who worked there and those who had business to do there. Unfortunately, that morning his fate was sealed by a delusional man who chose to kill.

The service was beautiful and most importantly, well attended by political and law enforcement officials who Mr. Cooper unknowingly put his life on the line for. While we were waiting for the procession a slide show flashed photo memories of Mr. Cooper's life. Not knowing him, I kept trying to imagine the type of person he was. I could tell he was definitely a family man and true public servant - he started a career in law enforcement very young and continued until the day he died at age 72.

The procession brought goosebumps down my arms, there is nothing like the sound of bagpipes playing at a funeral. The service was absolutely beautiful. Senator Harry Reid, Senator John Ensign, Sheriff Gillespie and the Director of the U.S. Marshals all paid homage to Mr. Cooper for his sacrifice. The ceremony was topped off with the most astounding version of Amazing Grace I have ever heard. After the service we all funneled outside where the tribute continued with the 21 gun salute. We all knew it was coming but still jumped when the first round was fired. Then five helicopters flew from the far end of the valley and just as they arrived above the church they proceeded with the fallen man tribute and one fell out of the formation and flew off on its own. Then a voice came over the radio and called out Mr. Cooper's retired call sign for the final time. Finally the American Flag was presented to Mr. Cooper's family for his service.

While outside I noticed a beautiful seagull fly over above us. He floated in the sky above as if he was looking over Mr. Cooper, his friends and his family. This probably went unnoticed to most but caught my attention. My freshman year in college I lost a dear friend and the only time during the funeral that I think people smiled was when a sparrow came out of nowhere and made his presence known as it flew above the crowded pews. I have been to a couple other funerals where I have noticed birds, not just flying by but really taking notice of what is going on below, almost like they are the looking glass for someone up above...

On the way home from the funeral I caught another unusual sight. It was a blue sky, a couple clouds here and there and no rain in sight yet there was a small rainbow in the sky. I asked Charlie if he saw it too just to reaffirm that I was not crazy and he did. I only hope Mr. Cooper's family saw it cuz it just made you feel better about things at that moment.

I hate funerals. I didn't know Mr. Cooper. But I am thankful for him, for his pledge to protect those he did not know and for his final sacrifice. Rest in Peace and Thank You.

The Sirens Whirled By...

It was a typical Monday morning. We had rushed to get Kadee to school, the kids to the babysitter and try to make it into work somewhat on time. I was chatting away with Charlie on the highway when an announcement came on the radio..."Two U.S. Marshals had been shot in downtown Las Vegas." All of a sudden a numbness came over me. We had seen one too many police officers killed this year, not again! I immediately called into work to see if they had heard anything. At the same time I was on the phone the news was making its way through the office. Unfortunately, nobody really knew what was going on yet. We got off the highway exit and headed to our office. I could see the helicopters circling in the air near the Federal Courthouse. This was not good. As we got on the street of our office everything was drowned out, from nowhere the sirens appeared. Charlie pulled over to the side of the road and patrol car after patrol car whipped by us with lights flashing and sirens blaring. I immediately started praying for the well being of the Marshal's and selfishly started thinking, please don't let it be anyone we know. What if one of our guys was at the Federal building? What if it was one of them? The details were coming in slowly and when it was all said and done we learned that a crazed man who had killed before thought it was his right to go and take other people's lives because heaven forbid his Social Security benefits had been cut!

In the end a court security officer was killed, a U.S. Marshal was shot and injured and the offender was shot and killed. The numbness of that day will remain for some time.I enter that building on occasion for meetings, appearances and trials. I walk through the security and would have never thought that one day, their lives would ever be in jeopardy. God bless them for protecting us and putting their lives on the line. For most it is simply a retirement job, something easy to help them pass the days and stay involved in law enforcement. I guarantee you from here on out, every time I walk through those security monitors I will pay more attention to those men that sit their and put their lives on the line.