Nevada Dave,

The sad news of Gary's tragic passing comes as a double shock to me; I just lost a young troop who broke in as a rookie here in Ozona about four years ago. Kurt was killed on May 7 in a wreck on Interstate 10 while on duty. He was a fine young man, the kind of kid that makes one think that the profession will be in good hands after us "old men" retire. I know that I feel old now. Kurt had recently moved to his new duty station and left a young wife and two small children. He was barely 28 years old when we buried him last Tuesday.

I had not even had the time (nor the heart) to get on Moparts since it happened until this evening when I got off patrol. And when I did, I found out about Gary. It made a tough week even tougher. I never met him personally but we swapped e-mails and visited in different posts, much as you and I did back on the old Dallas board. I will keep his friends and family in my family's prayers. I also want to thank you for the poem you posted here, it really hit home for me. I am forwarding it to fellow officers and running off a copy for Kurt's family. No truer words about our way of life has ever been written. I have been working eighteen years now as a single man unit on Interstate and the thoughts expressed in that poem have crossed my mind many times before but not near as eloquently.

Thanks again, 'cause I really needed it. And yeah, "10-42" means the same thing in the Lone Star state.

Your brother-in-arms in West Texas,

Ben H. English
Senior Corporal
Texas Highway Patrol
Ozona, Texas

AKA: "Paladin"