What a horrible year it has been for mass murders of American law enforcement officers. First there was Oakland, California. Then Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Then Okaloosa County, Florida, proving that the danger isn’t limited to big cities. And now, four Lakewood, Washington police officers gunned down by a cowardly assassin as they sat in a public coffee shop doing their paperwork on their laptops.
At this writing, the suspect (oh, excuse me, the “person of interest”) remains at large. He is believed to have been wounded by the one officer who was able to fight back before he collapsed, dying from the injuries inflicted upon him from ambush.
Fingers of blame point everywhere. At then-Governor Mike Huckabee, a politician liked by many who read this, who long ago commuted the suspect’s sentence. At a flawed System that allowed this man to be free on bail after being arrested for the rape of a child and assault on police. And for every pointing finger, there are more unanswered questions.
The quadruple ambush murder comes on a Thanksgiving weekend less than a month after the Halloween ambush murder of a Seattle police officer. Cops everywhere are grieving. Each of the slain Guardians left a widow or widower. Each left children, a total of nine between them. Donations to the widowed and orphaned survivors may be sent to the Lakewood Police Independent Guild Benevolent Fund, PO Box 99579, Lakewood, WA 98499.
There will be an end to this story, very likely involving more gunfire. Oakland SWAT killed the cop-killer there. The Pittsburgh ambusher was wounded, couldn’t bear the pain, and surrendered. The Okaloosa County killer, torn apart by police bullets in a second encounter, put his gun to his head and blew his brains out. I suspect a similar fate awaits the cowardly murderer in this case.
There are questions. There are even lessons. What we seem to be short of is answers.
Hope all y’all had as cool a Thanksgiving as I did. Significant Other and I spent it with my younger daughter, her husband, and their beautiful little girl – my first grandchild – who will soon hit her third birthday.
It was a reminder of touchstone values…those we most love are our Raisons d’etre, our reasons for existing. And I expect this particular holiday was all of that for you, too.
Yes, turkeys were involved. We watched a flock of wild turkeys near a reservoir when we all took the little one for a romp in the more-or-less wilderness. (Actually more less than more, but when you live in skyscraper country with floors and sidewalks, I guess anything with hills and grass qualifies as “wilderness.”) Main thing was, the kid enjoyed heck out of it…and so did her parents and the proud grandparent present.
We had our “Thanksgiving feast” at an overpriced restaurant in a big city, so my youngest – well along in a pregnancy which, according to the sonograms, will give me a grandson in the spring – wouldn’t have to cook. Country and metropolis, all in one day … a microcosm of life in America. Somewhere, I hope, Norman Rockwell was smiling, even if we weren’t convened ‘round a family table. At the reservoir, we spotted huge families who had gathered at picnic tables for their Thanksgiving celebration, under clear and pleasant West Coast skies. They were having a good day, and we were happy for them. It was a cheerful reminder that in our country, large families can gather for a sharing of love without having a big “rich man’s house” to accommodate a large group of people who care about one another. After all, historical depictions of the “first Thanksgiving” depict it al fresco.
As I write this, the Thanksgiving Weekend continues. Peace and happiness to you all, and enjoy the coming Christmas Season. These end of year celebrations remind us all of our core values. They renew our commitment to live for – and, yes, even fight for – the things, the principles, and above all the people who are the touchstones of our existence.
I don’t think it’s coincidence that Veteran’s Day and Thanksgiving take place in the same month.
I recently read “Hell’s Guest” by Col. Glenn D. Frazier. Frazier had been a conflicted mid-teen kid in the Deep South when he lied about his age and enlisted in the United States Army shortly before WWII. He was stationed in the Philippines when the “balloon went up.” Abandoned, he and his buddies fought fiercely – Frazier having had to kill in hand to hand combat with a knife – before the American forces were overwhelmed.
Young Frazier was one of the survivors of the infamous “Bataan Death March,” and endured nightmarish captivity as a POW for the entire war. Afterward, he suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder before psychologists were using the term. He fought through it with the same courage and character that had seen him through so many near-death ordeals, to become a role-model member of The Greatest Generation who even today helps others to cope with life crises.
You can read about it in “Hell’s Guest,” and can find ordering information for this inspirational book at www.hellsguest.com.
I got my copy when my old friend Steve Sager had the privilege of meeting Col. Frazier at a book signing, and was kind enough to snag me one. Steve, recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, found Col. Frazier’s insights most memorable – and most timely — in talking with him. After reading the book, I envy Steve the opportunity to meet this exemplar of American character.
Remember Col. Frazier and the many like him of all generations, who made it possible for us in this coming week to sit down at the annual feast where we Give Thanks. And don’t neglect the current generation, who won’t be in comfortable American dining rooms to share the holiday because they’re in the desert and the mountains, in deadly danger, representing their country.
The Holiday Season is coming quickly upon us. Let me step away from the grim current events that have been the focus of this blog lately, and try to start cultivating a little holiday spirit. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and all of that.
On the range this past weekend, the Significant Other spotted some mistletoe in the treetops. Having been through this last year, I knew where this was going.
She set forth to stalk the elusive mistletoe.
Being somewhat athletic (the Tae-Kwon-Do background, and all of that), there was a time when she would have scampered up the tree and harvested the pretty parasitic plant. Today as a grandmother (yes, I’m at an age when the younger women are grandmothers), she feels there is a standard of dignity to maintain. So, she brought a harvesting tool.
To wit, her pet Remington 1100 Special Field LT-20 shotgun, stocked and otherwise customized to her specifications. A few blasts of Winchester 20 gauge AA Sporting Clays loads of #8 birdshot later, she returned carrying her prey in her free hand.
“Peace on Earth, good will toward men,” I sighed quietly.
It is Christmas tradition to place mistletoe atop a doorway during Christmas season.
It is customary for guys and gals who meet at that spot to kiss under the mistletoe.
Am I going to kiss this pretty girl when we encounter each other beneath that shotgun-harvested greenery?
Blog reader CM Smith noted in the comments section of my earlier entry on the Fort Hood horror, below, “Amazing timing to have latest American Handgunner Ayoob File cover the similar ‘Andy Brown’ case on a USAF base in 1994.” Amazing, indeed. From my perspective, the coincidence was almost creepy.
But, it shouldn’t have been. As we all know, “the past is prologue.”
This time, it was Sergeants Mark Todd and Kimberly Munley who “rode to the sound of the guns.” Fifteen years ago at the air base, it was USAF Security Police Officer Andy Brown. Both times, the Good faced the Evil in horrific situations. Both times, it was the Good people – armed with simple Beretta 9mm pistols – who faced direct gunfire, outshot the Evil people, and put them on the ground…and decisively stopped the carnage.
Andy Brown is a helluva man. I had known his story since shortly after it happened, and got to meet him earlier this year when he attended one of my classes. He was kind enough to share his experience with the class, which unanimously found it both moving and inspirational. He allowed us to record his account of the incident at Fairchild AFB for the Pro-Arms Podcast. You can download it and listen to it at no charge through iTunes or Zune, or at http://proarms.podbean.com. You’ll be looking for podcast number 033. Or, you can read it in the current issue of American Handgunner magazine, in the continuing feature Ayoob Files, available now on the newsstands or readable at no cost at www.americanhandgunner.com.
There is much to learn from it. Just today, we authorized a trainer in South Africa, where the ordinary citizens are presently embattled in a level of violent crime and terrorism alike that goes far beyond anything seen in this country, to use Andy’s podcast in training there. Yes, it’s that important.
Sergeants Munley and Todd have already spoken to the press about their experiences. I hope that they can both do what Andy did, and share the specifics of what they went through with their peers, some of whom will inevitably have to do in the future what they did a week ago. And I salute Andy Brown for having had the courage to do that already. The knowledge born in their hard-won experience will certainly save lives in the future.
For Andy, the most painful part of the experience was arriving too late to save those who had already been shot. The military fifteen years ago did not handle that sort of thing well, and Brown suffered in the aftermath. I sincerely hope THAT past does not become prologue for our two current heroes.
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