We are all a product of our life experiences.
Growing up in western Pennsylvania and attending high school, one of my best friends and I served as offensive linemen on the school’s football team.
He was the left guard, and I was the right guard. We worked as a team to create a sound barrier to protect our team’s quarterback and generate openings for our runningbacks to pass safely through.
After high school, we went our separate ways — Doug to the Airforce and me to college. After fulling his service commitment, he joined the border patrol while I went on to enter a career in business.
Over the years, we would reconnect from time to time at reunions or when returning home to visit family.
It was during those times I would learn what it was like living in a border town and serving as a border patrolman and later as a sergeant.
Doug met his wife Robin in the Airforce and together began their family in Texas, but as the family grew, he and his wife decided to relocate the family in Pennsylvania while he stayed on the job in Texas.
It was hard to understand, from my perspective, why he would choose to live so far away from his family and would question him on how it could be that dangerous on the U.S. side of the border.
His reason was a simple one. Nearly every day he would deal with drugs, death and violence — all of which would spill over to the U.S. side.
He valued his role on the border. Doug’s sense of duty to the service and his fellow border guards was an essential part of who he is and the responsibilities he values.
Doug served on the southern border for nearly 20 years before transferring up to the northern border in Massena for another five or so years before retiring.
We all know someone like Doug, who dedicates their life in service to their country. When we understand the sacrifices they make to perform their jobs, it is hard to reconcile foolish political bragging rights when what they ask for — to keep them, their families and all of us safe — seems so reasonable.
Recalling those horrific tales, Doug would share it’s hard to imagine why we haven’t resolved the issues on the border long before now.
As the two sides fight it out, I sincerely hope they can put aside the need to score a political win and think instead about respecting the value of lives saved on both sides of the border.
