To:  Our Sheepdog, Our Cops
From:  Lt. Col. Dave Grossman

     I've got something I need to say to you, and all of your magnificent 'sheepdog' comrades, and it comes from the heart...

     Thirty-two years ago, I was a twenty year old buck sergeant in the 82d Airborne Division, spending over half my time on deployment, leaving behind a young wife and two little babies.
     Twenty-two years ago I was a company commander in Panama, leaving a wife and three little boys back at home.
     Twelve years ago I was wrapping up my military career, deployed every summer and countless weekends and weeks in between, with a wife and teenagers at home.
     For the last eleven years I've been on the road, almost 300 days a year, training cops and military.  I get home one or two nights a week:  conjugal visit, clean underwear, and back on the road again.
     For my entire adult life I've spent more time away from my loved ones than I ever spent with them.
     And I knew, all they ever had to do, was to pick up the phone and dial three digits, and someone like you would show up to fight and, yes, even die for my loved ones. 
     And so I need to say something:  Thank you.
     Thank you, for walking the mean streets during one of the most violent times in history.
     Thank you, for going toward the sound of the guns, when everyone else runs away.
     Thank you, for being the front-line of defense in the War on Terror.
     Thank you, for going in harm's way, every day, that others may live.
     Thank you, for watching our back and covering our 'six' when we are overseas.
     You should hear those words a lot more often:  Thank you.
          May God bless you and yours, as you protect and watch over others,

          Dave Grossman
          Lt Col, USA (ret)
          www.WarriorScience.com