PAX Centurion - May / June 2013

Page 44 • PAX CENTURION • May/June 2013 617-989-BPPA (2772) The Finish Line and beyond… O n Monday, April 15 th , 2013 at about 2:50 pm I was home. I was putting my son and his buddies into the car and taking them to lacrosse practice a little early. It was the start of April Vacation for my son and I. We had plans to work on our passing before practice started. He was going to leave LAX early because his baseball practice was scheduled for 5:00pm two fields over. On April 15 th my son was supposed to have three hours of sports and I was supposed to enjoy every second of it. I’m sure this is how we all pretty much planned the most hallowed week of April vacation. Day trips or week long excursions. Extra time with the kids or a spring- time lunch on the patio of the restaurant you love. Then something happened. Something both horrible and incred- ible all at once. Two ignorant and misguided fools attacked one of the premier events in this City. They thought they would put us in fear. They thought they would paralyze us. They couldn’t have been more wrong. The picked the wrong City. They picked the wrong police officers. What followed immediately after 2:50 pm on the 15 th day inApril and right through the week was nothing less than the most heroic acts of courage and bravery this city may have seen. Within the chaos there was immediately a calm voice over the radio giving direction. There was no wavering. There was just the right tone of calmness with command that must have told every officer with a radio “OK, we have a job to do”. I want to tell you about a few of those officers who did their job. I will only mention a few, and none by name. To recount each and every officer’s story would only say the same that a few would do. It will show an example how heroic all of these of- ficers were. There was an officer that immediately went into triage mode. He, along with dozens of others, began to treat the injured. Applying tourniquets with whatever means available. Directing civilians how to do the same as he treated each person he came across. There was the officer that held the hand of an injured victim while she waited for that victim to be transported. That victim, who was seriously injured, remembers someone holding her hand. I believe that officer had as much to do with saving her as anyone. There was the officer that knew his family was in the grandstand across from the first explosion. Like any father and husband would do he found them and got them to safety. When most would have kept going he trusted that the officers on the outside would continue to protect his family and he went back to the scene. There was the officer that was on a well-deserved day off. He was spending time with his children and family while his wife ran 26.2 miles in their son’s name. They were spending that time near the finish line. When he knew his family was safe and away from the scene he went to work. The commitment to duty that day by every officer was incredible. Things did not stop there though. The officers continued to do their jobs after the smoke cleared, literally. The scene needed security. The city still had to function. While everyone else would leave, evacuate, move on that day the police stayed. For five long days they stayed. Working twelve hour shifts. Doing jobs that no person who had just been through what they went through should’ve had to do. Spending time at home unable to rest but answering the bell when their shift came up. There was never any quit in any of them. They didn’t whine, they didn’t bitch. They “soldiered on” when they really shouldn’t have had to. By Chris Broderick, D4 Representative The thing that I found to be the most incredible thing about these people, almost to a man and woman was that they never said “I need” or “What about me?”. When these officers were asked if they were OK they all would say things like “yea, yea, I’m fine, but someone’s got to talk to X” or “I’m OK but I’m worried aboutY”. The only complaints, if I can call them that, were things like “So and so didn’t get a break last night” or “she shouldn’t be up there” and “why is he doing traffic, he should be home right now”. In the days following the events of that week people wanted to say “ThankYou” and promote the brave acts of Marathon Monday and theWatertown events. Whether it was a local reporter or Katie Couric, Time Magazine or Sports Illustrated, President Obama at the Cathedral or Joe Biden at Officer Collier’s service, A Red Sox game or the Kentucky Derby. What I heard from most was “I’ll do it if he or she does it” or “I’ve had my recognition, you know who deserves it, this guy”. Every day I heard people only concerned about each other, never themselves. There were requests all week to check on officers from other units and districts that were there with guys on Monday. These officers were concerned that others would be overlooked. There were con- stant inquiries on the status of different officers who were injured. It was some of the most selfless acts I have ever seen. FromApril 15 th at 2:50 pm right up until now… the “thin Blue Line” is more than a movie title or cliché used by media… It is real, for all the right reasons. That day, and the days that follow will not be forgotten. There will be a cloud over them for some time to come. But for me it will be a period I look upon with great pride. Whenever they talk about how many lives were saved and how incredible the first responders were that day I will think to myself “those are the heroes I work with and I am proud to call them my friends”. I would thank the officers for their selflessness through this entire ordeal.You are truly inspiring.Your professionalism should be acknowledged.You are truly heroes. But you were heroes onApril 14 th . Now people around the world know it. I will never forget, or let anyone else forget, the time you lost with your loved ones and the sacrifices you and your families made that week. I won’t let them for- get the time you lost before that day or the sacrifices you will make in the future. I promise every one of you at least that much. I would also like to thank the Sergeants and Lieutenants of Area D that were there and worked to make things easier on the men and women.Your acts will never be forgotten. I would like to thank Captain Ivens. With a million balls in the air he juggled them all and I never noticed if he dropped one. I would also like to thank Chief Linskey and the Command Staff. I say thank you for what you did for officers that week. More importantly I say thank you prospec- tively for recognizing the changes that will have to be made to ensure that officer safety, both physical and emotional, are paramount in planning for any future events, no matter how big or small. Thank you all.