Redstate

By Paul J Cella Posted in User Blogs — Comments (2) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Let us never forget the courage of the New Orleans police officers who stayed behind to protect a city in chaos. We have heard reports that as many as a third of the police force disserted. We have heard that others joined the looting, thereby contributing to the very anarchy they were struggling against. We have heard many things said against them; we have not heard enough of their brave perseverance in the face of terrifying conditions.

We need to hear more stories like that of Sgt. Joel Silve, as reported by one of CNN's war correspondents brought into a great American city. Sgt. Silve and four other officers protected a desperate landing area on the campus of the Univ. of New Orleans and facilitated, in the teeth of conditions almost unspeakable, the evacuation of some 3,000 people.

We felt like we was a warzone. We were in a couple of fights there. We trying to maintain calm. I mean, people were losing their minds. The biggest problem we had though - and I will say we tried to get out the older folks, then the women and children. Our biggest problem was the men. The men wanted to get out before the women. There are a lot of coward men out there. And that was our problem. We had men running to the chopper. We had to drag them off the choppers.

His comrade, Detective Patrolman Jimmy Ward:

We told them we would still be on the ground when the last person left. We gave them our word on that. We made sure we saw everybody leave on the second to last helicopter. We gave them our word and we kept that.

His voicing breaking, Sgt. Silve concludes: "I got those people out, and that's all I wanted. And we did it. Those babies - I can still see them in my mind. And those old folks."

The final shot of the CNN piece was the officers leaving in the chopper. Hardened New Orleans cops, weeping in relief and exhaustion. Like a scene out of Black Hawk Down.