With all of the discussion and actions that are being had regarding police, criminals, victims and violence -- some of which is constructive, some of which is not -- as part of Law Enforcement Appreciation Day I thought I'd share a personal story to explain, as best I know how, one of the reasons why we must honor this day.
When I joined Navy ROTC my freshman year at Purdue, it was a defining decision and experience of my life. I had the opportunity to join a group, a team, a family where we all came from different walks of life, but shared a common bond of patriotism. Answering this call for service was one of the proudest and most daunting decisions I had ever made. Honor, courage and commitment are the core values of what we learned in ROTC, and we learned to execute those through a training regimen of teamwork and leadership. While the instructors were certainly a key part of this training process, the most impactful lessons came from our fellow Midshipmen who were learning to lead by having the opportunity to do so with their fellow officer candidates.
I had not been an athlete in high school, nor particularly involved in clubs or music, so the concepts of teamwork and leadership were new to me. When I arrived at Purdue a week before school started for ROTC Freshman Orientation, the immediate immersion in to military customs, culture and traditions was a jarring one. I had never before met a group of folks that I so admired, respected and feared all at once. Military veterans and those who have served in intense life experiences understand the sort of bond that is formed amongst those who survive it together and those who help lead you to not only survive it, but grow from it. One of the individuals belonging to the latter category was a giant of a man in every way. David Moore was the epitome of everything you think of in a championship high school football team captain. David had a voice that could fill a gymnasium and while he'd motivate in an abrupt, seemingly gruff, no nonsense, in your face kind of way, he was always right there with you.
If you were doing push-ups in the mud, he was right there beside you doing push-ups in the mud - yelling at you to work harder, dig deeper, but right there with you. Imagine my surprise when orientation was complete and we discovered that David had a heart of gold, and just wanted to see each person he interacted with reach his or her fullest potential. While David was a year ahead of my class, our battalion was always a close knit one as we studied, trained, served and learned from each other. David was the guy you could always call if you needed help, no matter what. As a Marine option, his football team captain persona was a perfect fit and we all knew that the Marines he would serve would have an amazing leader.
Unfortunately an old football injury that flared up would prevent David from earning a Commission in the Marines, a dream of his that was devastating to watch him have to set aside. David, ever the loyal comrade, still came to his classmates commissioning, even though he wasn't to join us, showing just what a class act he was. David was never defeated in reaching his goal, which was just a part of his core of serving others, and upon his graduation he joined the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. Unsurprisingly, he showed the same leadership, courage and devotion to duty there as he showed at Purdue and he received many awards. After a routine traffic stop of a driver of what would later be determined to be a stolen vehicle on January 23, 2011 Officer Moore, who was wearing a bullet-resistant vest, was shot in the chest, the left thigh, and twice in his face by a parolee who fled the scene and conducted a robbery 50 minutes later before being apprehended. David’s end of watch came three days later when he succumbed to his wounds.
Following David’s death, our class established a scholarship for a Marine-option Midshipman at Purdue Navy ROTC. We established this scholarship, and I share the story of David here and any opportunity I can because the commitment to service; the unwavering core of honor, courage and commitment that David Moore embodied and helped inspire in everyone he met must continue. I share this story here, on Law Enforcement Appreciation Day because it is important that we remember both the sacrifice of David and many others who have offered their lives in the line of duty as well as their commitment to making our world a better place by upholding justice and providing leadership in difficult situations.
This core of service and protection is not unique to David Moore and while no individual or group of human beings are perfect; these values are prevalent in an overwhelming majority of police officers who offer to stand between right and wrong every day. It is clear that there are some thoughtful discussions yet to be had in way of better understanding and improving race relations across our country, but before, during and after those discussions we must always be thankful and honor our heroes in public service. David Moore and the thousands of other police officers who have offered their lives in service to those they swore to protect, will always live on as long as we remember, honor and give thanks for their courage while continuing to keep the watch and work towards making the world a more just and better place for all.