The duty of every military personnel is to protect and preserve the freedom of fellow Americans. They are “on the job 24/7” and have to “be professional every hour and day” of their lives.

People in our community and throughout America devote their lives to keeping our country safe.

Even as seniors in high school, some already know their calling to service in the military. Class of 2018 members at LHS, Tyler Soper and Zac Lindung, are officially enlisted in the Marines. Lindung is most looking forward to being deployed and “earning [his] title as a United States Marine.”

The future Marines have been preparing themselves. Lindung, Soper and other “poolees” in the delayed entry program for the USMC, have “PT sessions” every Tuesday and Thursday. Soper also goes to the range for target practices to improve his skills.

Thank you Lindung and Soper for your commitment to our country and accepting this potentially dangerous future. By graduation in May 2018, many more Lancers will take on a military future as well.

Over the years, many students from LHS have joined the military. Class of 2013 graduate, Andrew Schiller, is now Second Lieutenant in the army. He attended McDaniel College and earned a Bachelors Degree in Exercise Science. He decided to go into the army because he felt that it is his “duty to serve the country and protect the American people.” Schiller also wanted to follow in his parents’ footsteps, as they are retired military officers and role models to him and his siblings.

Mr. Lee Schiller, is a retired Colonel and Mrs. Chris Schiller, is a retired Lieutenant Colonel. Andrew has two younger brothers and a younger sister. The family of six has lived in six different states over the years, which is not uncommon for military families.

“It was tough moving every three to five years, but good things came out of each move. I met great friends along exploring new places and I will always consider New Market my ‘home’ because of the time spent here,” said Schiller.

Although he grew up in a military household, having the job himself has changed his lifestyle, the way he “thinks, speaks and acts” and it has brought a “new sense of pride” to his life.

Second Lieutenant Schiller said, “as of now I have no orders for any deployments, I relish the opportunity to some day be deployed with a group of soldiers.” He is currently a student at the Army Logistics University in Ft. Lee, Virginia, learning the concepts for becoming an Army Logistician.

Retired Colonel Lee Schiller, was deployed four times during his army career. The most recent deployment he had was from 2011 to 2012 where he served in Iraq for a year. He said, “time away from my family was always a challenge. I missed an entire year of their lives. That is something you can never get back.” During his time away, his four children and wife kept in touch as much as they could and made sure he was doing alright.

While retired Lieutenant Colonel Chris Schiller wasn’t deployed on combat tour, she served overseas in Korea and Honduras (where she met Colonel Lee Schiller.) For over 20 years, Schiller was an army nurse helping wounded soldiers and other persons.

In 2004, less than year after a deployment, Mrs. Schiller was diagnosed with breast cancer. The family took on the battle with her and helped her beat the cancer, she has been in remission since her last treatment in 2005. Mr. Schiller said that having a wife who is retired from the army created a “special bond” in their marriage and it is what got them through times they were away from each other, multiple moves and her breast cancer.

Second Lieutenant Andrew Schiller said he is thanked at least twice a day. He said whenever a soldier is allowed to go ‘off post’ they are most-commonly thanked by many. Being thanked brings him great pride because it lets him know that he is “doing his duty everyday.”

Every military personnel should get this feeling, this sense of pride and accomplishment.

As of January 2017, 1.4 million people serve in the United States armed forces. That is roughly five percent of America’s families that go through the process of changing homes and towns, the heart-wrenching feeling of stress and anxiety while waiting for their loved ones to come home and in unfortunate cases, the agony of losing loved ones overseas.

Whether the individual is on the front lines in battle, administering medicine to the wounded, or photographing the action, they deserve recognition. To all U.S. Military personnel and the Schiller family, thank you for everything you do and have sacrificed for our country and freedom. We appreciate you. May all of the fallen heroes rest in peace.

Firefighters protect and save the lives of people (and animals) from potentially deadly fires every day. They also save millions of dollars in property damage by preventing the fires from growing any larger.

There are many dangers that come along with firefighting. Every firefighter going into a fire risks structures collapsing, breathing in smoke,  severe burns, and potentially poisonous atmospheres. Every firefighter carries self-contained breathing equipment to combat some of these hazards.

The National Fire Protection Association estimates, “of the total number of firefighters 30% were career firefighters and 814,850 (70%) were volunteer firefighters.”

My aunt, Sarah Hollway, is a professional career firefighter and certified paramedic in Maryland. Seeing the Oklahoma City bombing on TV when Hollway was younger inspired her to become a paramedic. She said, “The first responders were so amazing and I wanted to be the person helping in a situation like that.”

As a firefighter, Hollway says that people thank them but “not as often as you think.”

Of course, children are mesmerized by the fire engines and the fire department, so they are often thanked by children. However, Hollway said she feels people more often consider firefighters as an ‘annoyance’ than anything else; “We block in their cars in parking lots. We shut down roads and mess up their morning commutes.”

On the anniversary of 9/11 Hollway says people will thank her and her colleagues more than usual and leave food at the station. Over 300 firefighters died in the 9/11 attacks, while attempting to save others. While firefighters did stand out that day and deserve to be thanked for it, they also deserve to be thanked for every other day and the hard work they put in for our communities.

The job is very unpredictable: fire personnel never know what time of the day that they will receive a call with an emergency that needs their assistance.

The same suspense goes for the people that are members of EMS (Emergency Medical Services.) Accidents, fires, and attacks occur all of the time. These heroes are among first to be called.

Emergency Medical Services may not always be ‘running towards danger’ every day, but they do run towards things that majority of people would stay far away from: a terrible car accident, an attempted murder, a person having a stroke.

EMS in recent years have had to deal with the overwhelming opioid crisis that is occurring throughout America. Approximately 90 Americans die every day due to overdosing on opioids. While the number of people overdosing and dying every day is large, there are also many lives saved because of our emergency responders.

Hollway says that as a paramedic, she and her coworkers deal with at least one overdose per shift. There is a reversal agent for opioids called narcan; “I have given more narcan in the last four years than I did in the first ten years of my career,” said Hollway.

With years of education and training, EMS personnel are capable of saving lives with medicine. Whether the person needs to be resuscitated, have a limb saved or be stopped from bleeding out, there is always someone to come to their aid.

Being a paramedic and career firefighter has changed Hollway’s life in multiple ways. With 14 years of service so far, she has touched the lives of many. The most memorable calls to her are not always emergencies: from sitting and talking with a boy who attempted suicide to explaining what affect a specific medication has, to an elderly woman.

When a medical emergency is reported during a 911 call, the ambulances that carry these important personnel are immediately sent to the location. These first responders are gifted individuals that deserve to be thanked and appreciated every day.

Thank you Sarah Hollway, firefighters throughout America and all Emergency Medical Service personnel for everything you do  and have done for our country and the people within it. We appreciate you. May all the fallen heroes rest in peace.

In recent years, the media has often portrayed negatives about the police force, and there are some police officers who might deserve this attention,  but, overall, this constant highlighting of the few who are not doing their jobs eclipses the work of the police officers who go into work every day, prepared to fight any crime for the people in their community.

Military veteran and current police officer for the Frederick Police Department, Kevin Long, said, “I’ve responded to many calls for service, where people are at their absolute worst and desperately need help. In those instances, when I [am] able to protect innocent, defenseless people, I [am] able to walk away knowing that I truly helped someone who needed help, and that is incredibly rewarding.”

Every call to 911 is a priority.

Emergency operators are trained individuals who are able to keep the caller calm enough to get information about what is going on, provide life-saving medical information, and dispatch the proper emergency personnel.

Within the police force there are many different job assignments: all are crucial to a functioning community.  Officer Long has recently been appointed the position of an explosive detection K9 handler for the city of Frederick. It is a title that “comes with a lot of added pressure on top of normal duties as a police officer,” he said.

This position comes with extensive training. While Long and his K9 partner, Odin, have completed K9 school, they must train daily to in order to stay sharp as a team.

Odin is trained to perform several different tasks such as explosive detection, tracking and aggression control.

Officer Long has always wanted to become a police officer. Seeing his father, Scott Long, in the same role inspired him to follow the career path. Mr. Scott Long said he is “very proud of [Kevin’s] military and police service.”

As an 18 year-old Walkersville High School graduate, Long enlisted in the military and then served as military police; this provided him with law enforcement experience that helped throughout his transition to becoming a civilian police officer.

Being in the police force has impacted Long’s life in many ways. Every day before he goes into work, he says goodbye to his daughter and his wife and tells them he loves them. “Whatever stresses or thoughts I have going on in my personal life are put on hold so I can focus entirely on what I’m dealing with in the moment at work,” he said.

We have humble heroes around us every day, keeping us safe.

Police officers, detectives, 911 operators and other units assist civilians every day, whether it be in small ways or big. To all police officers, Kevin Long and all 911 operators and units, thank you for everything you do and have done to protect our communities. We appreciate you. May all of the fallen heroes rest in peace.