I was lucky, I got to work with them....

From the Soldier side: Someone made the mistake one time of calling me a "war hero". I responded with: "sorry, I'm not, but I was lucky I got to work with some real heroes. "

I don't think that they even knew what a hero was. I am pretty sure I really didn't know myself--- until one time in Bosnia, a former Bosnian Army commander told me what a hero was. He said: "A hero is somebody who does something that has to be done, when nobody else can or will do it."

Yep, that's pretty simple right?

I want to tell you about some heroes I've been lucky enough to have worked with. A few have been in working as a cop, but a lot were while wearing my Army uniform.

I just told the story of the Russian River flood. That was a bit exciting, but less than a week later, I was called up to go to the Marysville area of Calif for another flood. This flood had broken levees and stuff like that. I was called while I was working "swing shift" at the police department. The sergeant calling said they needed me the next day. I told him I was working late and would not get home until midnight. He said come in and I could sleep on the ride up.

When I showed up, Sergeant First Class Michael C. Ottolini met me at the armory. He said he would drive so I could sleep. He out ranked me, but he drove anyway.

Just that little thing, letting me sleep, allowed me to be rested enough for the mess that was going to take place for the next several days. Mike was a hero to me, just for that.

But, there's more to follow.

to be cont.