Local firefighters and police officers hardly vie for attention. Perhaps because they often find themselves dealing with tragic situations, discretion is the watchword, and it usually takes a little pushing and shoving to get them into the spotlight.
It rather seems that more than seeking recognition themselves, it’s members of the community who feel the need to recognize the responders, to pay down debts of gratitude.
Coastal Point • SAM HARVEY:
Valor Award recipients and other representatives from local fire departments and police stations pose for a photo taken after the ceremony held on Friday, Feb. 10.
And the community did just that, on Feb. 10, at the Second Annual Valor Awards Luncheon. The Bethany-Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce sponsored the event, and the Den at Bear Trap Dunes played host.
U.S. Sen. Tom Carper said a few words, expressing his thanks, and Chamber President Tom Neville introduced Carl Freeman Communities President Josh Freeman as keynote speaker for this year’s luncheon.
Neville recognized Freeman for his outreach via the Freeman Foundation Assists Communities with Extra Support (FACES) grants, and his personal service to the country as a Green Beret.
On a personal note, Freeman remembered the day that he was out jogging with his cousin and wife, when his cousin collapsed. At first, they thought he was having some kind of seizure, Freeman said, but it turned out that he’d suffered a massive coronary event.
His wife flagged down a car, asking that someone send help, as Freeman performed CPR and attempted to resuscitate his cousin.
“It was an unbelievable relief when I looked around and saw familiar faces (among the responders),” he recalled. “It was an unbelievable feeling of community in a time of pain for our family.
“Ultimately, Buddy (his cousin) didn’t make it,” Freeman said. “But the speed of response allowed him to stay alive long enough for the rest of the family to say goodbye, and that was a tremendous thing, since most of his immediate family was out of town at the time.”
Freeman’s speech took two turnings — he offered this year’s Valor Award recipients special recognition, but reminded all audience members of their everyday opportunities for valorousness.
“When I think of the heroes, it occurs to me that valor is a label that has no boundaries,” he said.
Freeman quoted François La Rochefoucauld: “Perfect valor is to behave, without witnesses, as one would act were all the world watching.”
“Most of us won’t be faced with a burning building or armed hostiles,” Freeman noted. “So it’s easy for us to sit in the audience and think, ‘Well, I don’t wear a uniform — what can I do to help my community?’”
But people invariably encounter situations requiring exceptional courage and patience in everyday life, he pointed out, and make choices no one ever saw or recognized.
“The dedication of the volunteer whose self-sacrifice allows our kids to play safer, or the needy to be less hungry,” he suggested. “Or the nurse who works past shift, so that her patients can rest just a little easier.
“And we especially see it in the families of men and women in uniform, who shoulder the long hours of stress and quiet while their loved ones are serving others, and who sometimes suffer the ultimate pain (when someone’s killed in the line of duty),” he concluded.
All that being said, Freeman also offered the more traditional definition of valor — action above and beyond the call of duty, performed with exceptional courage, decisiveness, presence of mind and swiftness, without regard for personal safety, and toward the protection of another human’ life.
He quoted Poet Laureate Carl Sandburg: “Valor is a gift. Those having it never know for sure whether they have it till the test comes. And those having it in one test never know for sure if they will have it when the next test comes.”
“As Senator Bunting (Sen. George Howard Bunting, in attendance) and several other members if this community and in this room know, it’s the same in combat,” Freeman said.
For the police officers and firefighters honored on Feb. 10, Freeman said they’d proven themselves when the test came. He called the Valor Awards “the highest honor bestowed by this community,” and recognized the recipients for their judgment, bravery and preparedness.\
“We could not ask any more of them, or thank them enough,” Freeman pointed out.
This year’s recipients were:
• Pfc. Lewis Kester, Ocean View Police Department;
• Ptlm. Stephen Majewski, Fenwick Island Police Department;
• Assistant Chief Brian Martin, Bethany Beach Volunteer Fire Company;
• Ptlm. Joshua Rowley, South Bethany Police Department;
• Lt. George “Danny” Steele, Bethany Beach Police Department;
• Ambulance Captain Max Twigg, Roxana Volunteer Fire Company; and
• Cpl. Brian Wilson, Selbyville Police Department.