God's Own Heroes
By Chris Thompson
The voice of my mother breaks the news.
We now look at life from a new point of view.
Two towers are gone, dear God is it true?
Please help us?  What's happening? It's 10:32.

Security's been breached.  We're under attack.
A woman cries out, "Please find my boy Jack."
Fires of metal and chaos keep burning.
The hands of time keep ticking and turning.

Pictures and stories of death and devastation.
Yet heroes arrive without hesitation.
Their neighbors need help, their brothers now too.
"All humans unite, let's do what we do."

Search and rescue are the words we hear.
The epitome of courage - the earth shattering fear.
New York's finest and bravest fight with their hearts.
Risking their lives, doing more than their part.

During this time of great tragedy.
People may ask, "Oh, where can God be?"
I know where He is, it's plain to see.
He embodies the F.D.N.Y. and the N.Y.P.D.

May God Bless and Protect Our Brothers and Sisters
Who Continue To Serve.
Be Safe and Be Strong

EVERY 2.7 DAYS, A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
WILL LOSE THEIR LIFE,
TO PROTECT OUR RIGHT TO
LIFE, LIBERTY AND
 THE PURSUIT TO HAPPINESS.
 

THIS TORCH WILL BURN IN THE MEMORY
OF THE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS
AND THE FAMILIES THEY LEFT BEHIND.
AS OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN SAID,
THANK YOU, "MY TRUE AND FAITHFUL SERVANT."
YOU MAY HAVE GONE 10-7, BUT YOUR INTEGRITY, YOUR BRAVERY, YOUR COURAGE, YOUR PRIDE, YOUR HONOR AND YOUR SERVICE WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.
 

      There were 151 federal, state and local law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty during the past year, according to preliminary figures released today by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) and the Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS). That is 13
      percent higher than the 134 officers who made the ultimate sacrifice in 1999.
      Of the 151 officers who were killed during the past year, 51 were shot to death; 47 died in automobile accidents; 20 were struck by automobiles while outside of their own vehicles; eight died in motorcycle accidents; seven were killed in aircraft accidents; six succumbed to job related illnesses; three drowned; three died in falls; two were stabbed; one died in a bicycle accident; one officer was killed in an accident involving a horse;
      one was beaten to death; and one officer died in a bomb related incident.
      Texas was the deadliest state in the nation over the past year for police officers with 15 fatalities; followed by California with 11; and Georgia and Tennessee with 10 each. Six of the officers killed during the past year were women.
      "Despite improved equipment and better training, law enforcement remains the deadliest profession in America," declared NLEOMF Chairman Craig W. Floyd. On average, he noted, one police officer is killed somewhere in our country every 57 hours. There are also 62,000 assaults committed against our officers every year, resulting in more than 21,000 injuries.
      Dating back to the first law enforcement fatality in 1792, more than 15,000 officers have lost their lives in the line of duty.
      "The sacrifices made by our police officers, and their families, are too often taken for granted," observed COPS National President Molly Winters.
      "Not a day goes by that an officer does not risk his or her life for the safety and protection of others."

SO DO NOT FEAR,
FOR I AM WITH YOU;
DO NOT BE DISMAYED,
FOR I AM YOUR GOD.
I WILL STRENGTHEN YOU AND HELP YOU;
I WILL UPHOLD YOU WITH MY RIGHTEOUS RIGHT HAND.
ISAIAH 41:10

PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD, THAT YE MAY
BE ABLE TO STAND AGAINST THE WILES O

DEVIL.  FOR WE WRESTLE NOT AGAINST FLESH
AND BLOOD, BUT AGAINST THE RULERS OF
DARKNESS OF THIS WORLD, AGAINST
SPIRITUAL WICKEDNESS IN HIGH PLACES.
EPHESIANS 6:11,12

 IOWA'S FALLEN HEROES

National Police Week and Peace Officers
Memorial Day, May 15, were established by a
law signed by President John F. Kennedy in 1962.

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial was authorized by an act of the United States Congress and was dedicated seven years later by President George Bush, on October 15, 1991. It honors all of America's federal, states and local peace officers. Inscribed on the Memorial's blue-gray marble walls are the names of more than 14,300 men and women who have been killed in the line of duty, dating back to the first known death in 1794.

This world [God] created is of moral design.  Grief and tragedy and hatred are only for a time.  Goodness, remembrance and love have no end.  And the Lord of life holds all who die, and all who mourn.
It is said that adversity introduces us to ourselves.  In this trial, we have been reminded, and the world has seen, that our fellow Americans are generous and kind, resourceful and brave.  We see our national character in rescuers working past exhaustion; in long lines of blood donors; in thousands of citizens who have asked to work and serve in any way possible.
America is a nation full of good fortune, with so much to be grateful for.  But we are not spared from suffering.  In every generation, the world has produced enemies of human freedom.  They have attacked America because we are freedom's home and defender.  And the commitment of our fathers is now the calling of our time.
We ask Almighty God to watch over our nation, and grant us patience and resolve in all that is to come.  We pray that He will comfort and console those who now walk in sorrow.  We thank Him for each life we now must mourn, and the promise of a life to come.
As we have been assured, "Neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, can separate us from God's love."  May He bless the souls of the departed.  May He comfort our own.  And may He always guide our country.