Dear Mr. Policeman,

As a young man, full of arrogance and fanciful illusions of my worldly knowledge and self-importance, I behaved as I chose, because I could.

I pushed the limits, experimented and broke laws, and had plenty of company in doing so. In our self-delusion we thought it cool to deride and despise men and women like you, who stood against our whims and follies.

You were not there to be our friends, but to uphold the law and keep the peace. For that offense, to our great shame, many among us called you pigs.

Now, some decades later, I stand and salute you. I hold you in high esteem. I and countless of your fellow citizens deem you indispensable and, with rare exception, worthy of honor and respect.

How many of your number have given their lives to protect and defend citizens of every stripe, never asking whether or not they were deserving?

Though such numbers are seldom mentioned, such deeds are memorialized in individual lives in every neighborhood throughout our land.

Know this:
There are more by scores of millions, who are for you, than those who are against you.

Even the God of creation has called you His arm of defense and His appointed instrument, against the tide of lawlessness in the earth.

Mr. Policeman - and all officers with whom you serve - when your hands grow weary, know that we’re standing with you. We cheer you to summon your inner resolve, to steel your heart with undaunted courage.

Know that, as to every person and family, from the largest city to the smallest hamlet - we cannot do without you.

Thank you.

And know this . . .

The day that you give way, begins our nation’s unraveling.

The hour of your retreat, is America’s disintegration.