Twas the night before Christmas and in theaters across the land, “Die Hard” was opening. It was 1988 and a new Christmas movie was being born. It’s hard to believe that was 1988 – almost 30 years ago – and we now have an entire generation who never had the opportunity to see it in the theaters (all my own children as the example). There are those who claim that the movie IS NOT a Christmas story. I disagree. It’s a story about a separated husband and wife who, due to circumstances and thanks to their own efforts, find their way back into each other’s arms, reuniting the family, bringing a PAIR of parents back into reality for their children and waking up VERY thankful for everything they have on Christmas morning. If that’s not a Christmas story, I don’t know what is.
The fact that it also has guns, explosions, terrorists and robbers… that’s all just icing on the cake in my book, but it’s also why I sit to type about it today. Here it is, Christmas Eve morning. In our nation, just in the past 24-48 hours, we’ve seen numerous officers attacked and injured. Less than a month ago a terrorist attack DID occur in California. Admittedly, Nakatomi Plaza was in Los Angeles and not San Bernardino, but it’s still California.
There is a difference in who the bad guys are between the movie and real life. Those German (?) “terrorists” in the movie were really just thieves, ultimately only after millions of dollars. The terrorists in San Bernardino were radical Islamists ultimately after martyrdom for themselves and death to infidels. Thankfully, in 1988 the movie wasn’t set in one of the World Trade Center’s twin towers as that would make the connection between terrorism and a burning tower seem quite a bit more than coincidence.
But let’s focus on the officer in this movie. Here’s a man who has traveled across the country to visit his wife and children for Christmas. Quite a few of us do that. He has traveled armed (because that’s what officers do). Quite a few of us do that. (It should be all of us.) He finds himself in a situation that calls for a law enforcement response and, although he tries to avoid it at first, when circumstances finally demand that he take action or be killed, he takes very decisive action. We all do that. Once the fight in engaged, he doesn’t stop until it’s over. We should all do that. When the time comes, he risks his life to save all innocents who are put into harm’s way. A great many of us have done that and we all stand ready to if our duty demands it of us.
In the end, he survives the encounter, emerges injured by victorious, gets his wife back and gets to celebrate Christmas with his children. If we’re all on our toes and get a bit lucky, we all get to celebrate Christmas with our families too. Sometimes we only get to celebrate part of Christmas with our family because duty demands that we spend another part on the job. It’s one of those sacrifices we make that the good people appreciate and other dismiss as “just part of the job.” What only the members of The Thin Blue Line understand is that when we’re at work with another family.
And THAT my brothers and sisters is what this is really all about. “Die Hard” was a good movie but, at least for me and I suspect plenty of others, it carried an emotional attachment because each of us likes to believe that in John McClane’s shoes, we’d be equally heroic. He did everything he had to do without regard for his own well-being, but constantly in pursuit of survival. Yes, he wanted to stay alive, but he also didn’t want to fail all those potential victims. He didn’t want the hostages abandoned to those on that agency who would rather dismiss a potentially huge problem rather than deal with it on Christmas Eve.
Let’s be honest. ALL of us would rather have a quiet Christmas Eve and peaceful Christmas Day. The reality, as we know all too well, is that crime never takes a day off and stupid knows no calendar. We ARE going to get calls for service. We ARE going to have to arrest people – no matter how much we try not to. We ARE going to have to see and deal with some of the worst parts of humanity and we ARE going to wonder: don’t these people even know what the “Christmas spirit” is?
No… sadly, no they don’t. They know only selfishness, stupidity and a total neglect for the welfare of others. It’s why we exist; to protect and serve our society; to defend the innocents and the peaceful from the predators in our midst. Whether we respond en mass to a call or if it’s just one of us against plenty of them… we still stand in the gap and do the job we swore to do. It is the unfortunate reality that some of us never make it home to our families; that the ultimate sacrifice is made and our families sacrifice as well. Christmas will never be the same again for the families who have had to live through that.
Don’t let that be your family. If you have to work, pay attention; stay alert; stay alive. Be strong. Be determined. Be purposeful. Be strategic. Be smart. If circumstances demand it, be ruthlessly violent within the controls of law, regulation, morals and ethics. But GO HOME TO YOUR FAMILY.
From everyone on the staff at SouthComm Law Enforcement Media, and from myself (a brother officer), have a MERRY CHRISTMAS as well as a HAPPY & SAFE NEW YEAR.
Lt. Frank Borelli (ret), Editorial Director | Editorial Director
Lt. Frank Borelli is the Editorial Director for the Officer Media Group. Frank brings 20+ years of writing and editing experience in addition to 40 years of law enforcement operations, administration and training experience to the team.
Frank has had numerous books published which are available on Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com, and other major retail outlets.
If you have any comments or questions, you can contact him via email at [email protected].
