a risky job.

as i was searching on the internet for a current event to blog about, i was especially looking for something happy, exciting, and hopeful to blog about. i feel like whenever i turn on the news, there is always some depressing story about murder, sickness, or tragedy. never anything to look forward to. never anything to hope toward. anyways, on that happy note, i looked for something that would be fun and upbeat to blog about. as i looked, it seemed like everything was about the election, and i was definitely not in the mood to rant-blog about that. so, i chose to blog about a tragedy.

on saturday night, two atlanta policemen were killed in a tragic helicopter crash. the pilot was a man named Officer Richard J. Halford. he had worked for the Atlanta Police Department for sixteen years, so he was considered one of their skilled veterans. when he died on saturday night at the relatively young age of forty-eight, he left behind a wife and a twenty-one year old daughter. his partner on the night of the crash, tactical flight officer Shawn A. Smiley, died on impact as well. his wife was left widowed with three young children. the death of these two men is very tragic, but the cause of their death is even more tragic. they were on a mission searching for a missing nine year old boy. the cause of the crash is unknown at this moment. the only thing known about the crash is that they lost control of the helicopter, and both men died on impact with the ground. 

it is important to note that these two brave men risked their lives daily for the protection of the citizens. i can only speak for myself, but when i think of heroes, i usually think of men and women serving in our military. i do not normally think of the police officers or firefighters that put themselves in harms way to save and protect people daily. its not that i am not thankful for their services, i just sometimes overlook them. i like to think of the big picture, so i think of our nations huge and powerful military. i think that people should become more aware about the dangers and risks that police officers take to save and protect their people. as we enter into this thanksgiving season, people should attempt to be more thankful and kind toward the police officers that risk their lives every day. 


 "Officers in APD Chopper Crash Identified." 95.5FM & AM750    News/Talk WSB. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2012. <http://www.wsbradio.com/news/news/local/officers-apd-chopper-crash-identified/nSxLc/>.