Crime and Justice

An American Hero Needs Help

I’m going to get a ration for the title of the post, but I mean it, so… 

Lawdog needs help, folks. He’s been backed into a corner by corruption and betrayal, and it costs money to fight that. If you can’t add money to the fund, you can share the word to help this man with his battle. He hates asking for help. We are right here to offer that help, because he’s spent his life in service. To his country, to his communities. 

To donate, he’s using a Give Send Go fund, so you can go there. 

If you’d like to hear about it from the man himself, listen to the livestream (starts at 14:04 to talk about it). Look at the body language… He’s deeply humiliated by this, and he shouldn’t be. This wasn’t his fault, and to have a long career end on this note? He doesn’t deserve that. He should be exonerated, but the cost is high. 

The Old NFO will be running a raffle, to sweeten the donation deal. I’ll be contributing to that, as well, with a matched set of Phoenix Dragons. 

Now, to expand on that title a little. Any of you who’ve read the Lawdog Files will already understand. Those who haven’t, this is for you. The Lawdog is a wiry, unassuming man, with a tendency to be shy and a strong desire to fade into the shadows. As he’s also a master raconteur, this doesn’t always work for him. Seriously, if you ever get a chance to get in range of him telling stories, it’s worth it. What you’ll have to read between the lines is his life of service, he’s no braggart. He started out with time in the military, doing things he can’t really talk about in places he never was. From there, he went into service more locally, serving 26 years in law enforcement. He talks about his pay being so low, when he first started, that he had to supplement by riding the range. Policing isn’t just a job, it’s a calling, or few good men would go into it. And yet, many do. I want to talk a whole lot more about this but I won’t, here and now. Let’s just say I come from a family where emergency medicine was a big part of life, and I got to know a whole lot of police, firemen, and medics when I was young enough to not wholly understand… and that as an adult I fully understand the ramifications of having a big heart in service to fellow man. 

Read the story he wrote for Can’t Go Home Again. It’s not autobiographical, perhaps, but it’s not an untrue tale. You’ll begin to understand why I think of him as a hero.  

He’s a good man. He’s unwilling to let his name be dragged through the mud. Let’s help him, because you know what? He’s helped so many in his life. Our turn to give back just a little. 

8 thoughts on “An American Hero Needs Help

  1. […] Yesterday when I was calling for help for my friend and collaborator Lawdog, I mentioned that it took me from a childhood growing up around hometown heroes to truly understand the ramifications of having a big heart. Dad was a medic, a firefighter, and involved in search and rescue. I was also involved with SAR and met many in that environment who were humble to the point where you might find out about their heroic efforts only by accident. I’m not saying that all police, EMTs, or firefighters are saints. Far from it. I have a vantablack sense of humor for a reason, and, well, that started when I was a wee little blonde moppet. However… they make a choice. They have big hearts, and I mean that very literally. The human heart adapts to the use it is put to, just like any other muscle. Over time, the adrenaline rush of responding to calls, to exerting oneself to inhuman levels, this takes a toll on the heart. Dad had his first ‘cardiac event’ while doing ice rescue training. He jokes that he provided extra-good training that day, glossing over that a heart devoted to a life of serving others was literally giving out, having grown beyond the capacity of the body to support it. He is not alone in this. The mental is even harder to see than the physical effects. Yet, still, they continue to ‘do their job.’  […]

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