President Trump Pays Tribute To Fallen Officers....We Must Follow His Lead And Support Them

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Special Agent Terry Watson a U.S. Army veteran had served with the Drug Enforcement Administration for 13 years until he was stabbed to death in the course of an investigation in Bogota, Colombia in 2013. He was survived by his wife.

Special Agents Chad Michael, Forrest Leamon, and Michael Weston were returning from a counter-narcotics operation in Afghanistan in 2009 when the military helicopter they were riding in crashed, killing all three of them. Michael left behind a fiancé, brother, and parents who loved him. Leamon was survived by his wife and unborn child as well as his sister and parents. Meanwhile, Weston was ripped from his wife, brother, and parents.

Special Agent Don Ware was killed in 1975 after he was kidnapped, beaten, and shot while working on an undercover narcotics mission in Mexico. His wife and three daughters lost pieces of their souls that day.

I tell you these stories not to depress you, but rather as a way of paying homage to a group of people who are both essential to our safety but also incredibly brave. They were taken long before their time and their sacrifices for the good of the country deserve to be recognized.

That’s why I was so happy to see President Trump put forth the proper praise to these amazing men and women at the National Peace Officers Memorial Service.

“Though your loved ones left us much too soon, the memory of their courage will live on forever. To see so many names together, is only to get a glimpse of the debt America owes to those who protect our streets,” he said.

Members of our Armed Forces get plenty of attention and praise for what they do and they have earned every bit of it. But the men and women who serve in dangerous police units like the Drug Enforcement Agency get overlooked for the contribution they make to society and the impact they have on our lives.

This is why I am proud to serve as part of the DEA Survivor’s Benefit Foundation Corporate Committee. The heroes who risk their lives every day to defend us from dangerous criminals and cartels often do not get the recognition they are due and their families are not as well taken care of as they should be.

Any officer who is killed in the line of duty deserves a hero’s burial and our eternal appreciation, but we owe it the members of the family they left behind to see to it their incredible act of martyrdom does not go for naught.

They risked everything for us. The least we can do is provide for those they loved so dearly.

President Trump articulated that thought well when he said, “No one asked these selfless men and women to enlist in this righteous cause…They joined because their hearts were big, and full of amazing courage. They put on the uniform because they believed it was their mission in life to serve. It is our duty as a people and as a nation to prove worthy of their sacrifice.”

He later added, “Thousands are living today in New York who otherwise would be gone, because our great police fought to bring safety to our streets,” he said. “As president, my highest duty is to keep America safe…You are the thin blue line between civilization and chaos. I want you to know that patriotic Americans truly support and love our police.”

That’s why I urge you to please take a moment to visit the Survivor’s Benefit Foundation’s website and do your part to pitch in.

This is an organization that is doing God’s work and it is something that all Americans – black or white, Republican or Democrat, gay or straight, man or woman – should be able to unite behind.

Our country is better for what these men and women put themselves through for our protection and we must ensure that the best, brightest, and bravest continue to be willing to stand up for us.

And they need to know that if God forbid the worst happens, we will come through for their family the way they always came through for us.

Or as President Trump put it, “Whatever you need, we are here for you, and we are praying for you.”