Prayers for San Bernardino

The victims - the loss for us all - the Heroes

"Try to relax, everyone, try to relax, I'll take a bullet before you do, that's for damn sure. Just be cool, OK?"

Those words from a brave police officer as he escorted terrified civilians to safety during the horrendous Islamic Terrorist attack at the San Bernardino Regional Center on Wednesday the 2nd of December. No mention of the assassins' names will be printed here since that would only bring recognition to two purely evil individuals who may have believed they got a ticket to Heaven but undoubtedly are feeling the heat of Hell at this moment for the mass murder of innocents.

Or at least we can pray that is their end reward.

A Good way to end a bad terrorist!

The police officer - probably didn't know he was being videotaped and would simply shrug his shoulders and respond if asked about the heroic deed: "It's all in a days work."

Being an ex-deputy sheriff and former member of SWAT - J knows all too well the diligence and duty that goes along with wearing a badge. Those years working for the Riverside Sheriff's Department were special with friends made, lives saved and the satisfaction of realizing his badge, like all those who wear them, is the thin line between civilization and anarchy.

Are there sometimes rotten apples - bad cops - yes there are just like there are bad attorneys, bad teachers, bad business people, bad judges, and bad politicians (probably more of those than all the others put together) but this blog isn't about the aberrations within respectable careers.

This is about the men and women who each day don their respective uniforms, kiss their loved ones good bye not knowing if they will be coming home after their shift. It's not morbid but simply a reality these law enforcement personnel live with on a daily basis.

A routine day - no - but maybe . . . 

It's about the overwhelming good people doing what they are supposed to do every day.

When J was a 'copper' on the streets he would say that most of the time the job of a police officer is 97% routine and 3% stark raving terror.

That is what the fine officers - SWAT and regular patrol and detectives -faced around eleven in the morning on the 2nd in San Bernardino, California. They got dressed, said good bye to their loved ones and went off to a day at work. Hours later they would be involved in one of the largest terrorist killings in United States history.

Terrified = Terrorism

Common patrol routes turned into racing toward 'shots fired' - a training session ended in speeding toward those shots fired as 'civilians down' crossed the radios - sunny weather turned into tears from heaven as the death and casualty toll climbed minute by minute.

Not a regular day at the office for any of them - nor for the poor innocent people who were simply trying to enjoy a Holiday party at work with friends and co-workers. They to had gotten dressed in the morning, said good bye to their loved ones and went off for their normal, or thought to be, day. Horribly fourteen of these wonderful people never will return home to the comfort of their loved ones.

Some will return home but scarred anyway

It was a day which fate - that sometimes cruel master - had decided to reduce the human population by means of a couple of monsters.

The heroes on that fateful day were the police officers, the civilians who obeyed the frantic but professional order given by those police officers, and the citizens who lost their lives.

Like 45 year old Shannon Johnson who was in the building when the shooting started and ducked beneath a table for safety and then put his arm around a female co-worker and said "I got you", shielding her body from the onslaught of bullets coming their way. Mr. Johnson died - his co-worker lived because of him.

Hero - Shannon Johnson and his girlfriend at a happier time

The people who perished on Wednesday were heroes - they didn't start their day believing they would be but as they were tragically and gruesomely shot there was one other person not being shot. In a sadly rational way they too were willing to take a bullet so someone else could survive.

We can pray that there will be no more mass killings but that would be naive when humans with hard held fanatical beliefs are allowed to roam this globe. Humanity must see that these individuals should not be thought of as human with a moral understanding of what it is to be truly human - one with empathy, sympathy and the knowledge of right from wrong. This is not what they believe - only pain and suffering is their desire.

It's okay to pray

It's not about gun control but about understanding the enemy at large and then doing the right thing.

Eliminating them.