Honorable Mention: COII Richard O'Marro

When we talk about sacrifices of soldiers, movie scenes quickly come to mind of leaping on live grenades and charging machine gun nexts.  But every day our solders and veterans make sacrifices to make this a better world for us all.  They begin from the first day of boot camp with sacrificing their individuality.  Single men and women are broken down, then forged together as a unit.  They learn to break the bonds of selfishness, and instead look to how their actions can affect the greater whole.

As a youth, Michael Beeson was like many other young men.  He tended to be restless and a bit of a hell raiser.  But when he received his draft notice in 1972, he didn’t ignore it or run for the border like others did.  Instead he sacrificed those little things many of us take for granted like being able to pick your clothes, or schedule or even meals you like. 

Enlisted into the U.S. Army 95^th Military Police Battalion, he now comments on it as “The Army taught me everything about Duty and Responsibility that my mama never could.”  Enlisted as a boy, when he came back from serving overseas in 1974 the Army had molded him into a man.  The lessons of the Army stuck with him, and he continued to seek to serve the public, replacing the Army unit with a Police force.  He served in various Law Enforcement positions, finally coming to the Arizona Department of Corrections in 1991.

His military past is evidence from the care he takes with his uniform to how he constantly goes above and beyond to help the officers around him.  Always ready to lend a hand or a bit of advice to ensure the job gets done and everyone goes home safely.  He goes out of his way to steer others away from trouble and help those who have situations like childcare that keep them from being able to work mandated overtime.  And for it all, he never goes looking for any special recognition or thanks.

However, his spirit of self-sacrifice isn’t limited to the workplace.  There are the small sacrifices that have to be made every day as a devoted husband and father.  There’s the volunteer work he does as an Elder with his church every Sunday, taking care of many behind the scenes details to ensure that others may have an enjoyable service.  Even in his choice of hobbies he sacrifices and gives back to the community as he often rides for charity with the Just Us Public Service Motorcycle Club.

It’s the big sacrifices of our soldiers that become the books and movies.  Their loss of lives, or limbs, or sanity to the hells of war in the interest of preserving democracy.  But it’s the smaller, unsung done by thousands of our soldiers and veterans each and every day that makes our society a better place and allows us to live safe, happy, and free.