Our honorable young men and women are serving our country with pride and they are dying for our freedom.

As a community, we felt the effects of this war when we lost one of our own in Brady's Bend. And just the other day we lost another brave and honorable soldier in Ford City.

It no longer is another international report of an attack against our forces in Iraq. It is now becoming very personal for this community. And we all feel it.

Carl Curran II made the ultimate sacrifice. He is a hero.

He probably would not have seen it that way; it would have humbled him to think that this community feels that he is now, I am pretty sure.

He was just doing his job the way he was rigorously trained to do, and he was proud to serve his country. That is all.

Our firefighters, who used to be the unsung heroes, finally got their well-deserved recognition after Sept. 11, 2001. They too make the ultimate sacrifice every time they are called to do their job. They do not see themselves as heroes.

Just sit down in a firehouse when the stories are told of "remember when" they were just doing their job and are proud of how well they did it in some of the most ungodly crises and under so much pressure.

With homeland security at the forefront these days, there are men and women putting their lives on the line every day for us that we can never forget. But we do. We do it every day.

Unfortunately, sometimes these brave heroes are not our favorite people. Their job is to uphold the laws of this state and to protect the citizens of Pennsylvania.

When they are in your rearview mirror with their lights flashing, they become your worst inconvenience as you pull over, muttering a few swear words, while you are reaching for your driver's license, registration card and insurance information. (Most speeding tickets are given to law-abiding citizens who have never committed any other offense. And, those 80 percent of us who have gotten one during our lifetime would love to blame it on our right foot that suddenly got a brain of its own after passing state police radar).

These fine men and women are just doing their job. They never get enough credit for what they do, what they were sworn to do when they took their oath, and that is to protect the citizens of this commonwealth.

They too are heroes.

For all that the Pennsylvania State Police do, they deserve better from us as citizens of this commonwealth. They professionally handle the worst of crimes to the smallest of misdemeanors, and every community complaint (loud music and dogs barking, for example) in places that do not have a local police force.

County barracks work with each other to handle anything that is called in at the boundary of their respective counties, to ensure our protection every single day.

They are very professional and deserve our pride.

So. the next time you see the flashing lights in your rearview mirror, reach for your driver's license and insurance and registration information; just don't curse under your breath when the officer is walking up to your car.

They are just doing their job. They deserve our utmost thanks.

No, I have not recently been handed a speeding ticket or been criminally charged. I am not married to, or remotely related to, a Pennsylvania State Police officer, nor do I know one personally or socially.

I just honestly feel that they are unsung heroes, and I publicly wanted to say thank-you from my whole heart to these brave men and women who sacrifice their lives for me, so I can sleep soundly at night.

They are more than deserving of those thanks.