The highest points in the 50 states are hopefully all going to be hiked in remembrance of those who were lost in the line of duty on June 30th.  They are just mountains, piles of rock, covered with grass and moss, steeply heading toward the highest heights on earth.  They are just made of granite or covered in the lushness of a corn field.  Each highpoint is different but they have one thing in common.  On the day, Summit For Heroes, they are each a sacred place, if only for a moment.  Each mountain, hill, or field will be the place where a few brothers and sisters in blue will gather to remember a life that was taken away so abruptly.  As each highpoint is different, so is each story.

In the next weeks leading up to Cops On Top’s Summit For Heroes, I would like to write about some of the people who are doing these climbs and those for whom they are climbing.  I can tell you from experience, it is a humbling time.  You get to where you need to be or almost (as was the case for me as I was pregnant), and you remember and reflect publicly or privately on the person or persons whom you carry a flag and patch for up the mountain.  Many say a prayer, many read a story written by a loved one, many just sit in silence.  There is no right or wrong way to do this.  It is an honor to climb in memory of a brother or sister.

I hope that you feel led to climb in honor of your state’s chosen person or even in honor of a person who you wish to remember and honor.  As much as it would be wonderful to climb publicly as a group with Cops On Top, I feel also that wherever you are that day, make it a point to go to a highpoint in your town, county or even just to a mountain or hill that you like to hike.  It would be a time where you can reflect on a person or group of people and give them the honor and the silence that is due them.  We can’t let our heroes be forgotten ever.  They live forever in our thoughts and those who carry on to live out their life’s work.

If you would like to learn more about Cops On Top, go to their website at www.copsontop.com.

Remember their lives were special and to go somewhere to remember their life is the least we can do.

Kristen Wallitner has been in love and married to her LEO husband for 16 years and they have 2 children, ages 8 and 5.  They do a lot of hiking and outdoor things as a family.  Kristen is also very interested in running, gardening, writing, and cooking, studying her Bible, and spending time with family.

State – Illinois

Family – Husband Wayne, Kelby 22, and Kelsy Lea 20

Interests or hobbies – 4-wheelin, Jeepin and Reading

Talents – Painting

Occupation – 911 Dispatcher/States Attn. Asst.

My dream vacation would be … 4-wheelin in the Rocky’s

My super power is … Intuition. Im very good at reading people.

Something you can do better than your spouse/significant other…  Spelling and Math

My greatest achievement has been… Raising Beautiful Children

Something that no one knows about me is … I hate feet. If my family knew, they would torture me.

My favorite food is … Anything with Ranch and Cheese

The 3 things I would want if I was stranded on a desert island are … My Children, DH and My Kindle.

My secret crush is … Matt Dillion. He was sooo awesome in The Outsiders!

For the last five years, I have been putting off this day with the fear of not looking good. I thought I was too fat, or too tired looking or too pregnant. Then the excuse was that my daughters are growing and changing and I didn’t want a family picture printed on canvas to hang over the mantle and not have it look like us. I didn’t want a picture of three of us and have another baby who wouldn’t be there in our official “family picture.” Excuse after excuse came and the idea got tucked further away until suddenly it occurred to me that my children were growing up and my husband and I were never gonna look like we did on our wedding day. Almost a decade has passed and it was time to stop fighting the idea.

We met with my friend, Jamie, who is a wonderful and successful photographer. I had a week’s worth of nervous emails where I told her my fears, my hesitations and what I was hoping to capture and she made me feel so comfortable with each response. I had confidence that she knew what I was looking for and how important these pictures were to me. When Bobby is on duty, and he’s taken away from home for a couple days of 12 hour shifts, these are the photos that my children and I will look at to remind us who we are and what our family means to us. It will be these photos that I will look at and smile at when he is off riding his bike for Law Enforcement United in a three day charity ride or has to spend the night near the sheriff’s office during hurricanes and blizzards to make it into work on time. It’s these photos that I will look back on when my kids are grown and our nest becomes empty. I let time get away from me and I kept thinking that looking different and feeling different was something that would happen in the near future. This is who I am today. This is who my husband and children are today. If I am older, heavier, or if my children make silly faces or scream and cry in front of the camera, it’s fine. This is who we are now, time doesn’t go backwards. It only gets ahead of you and most often gets away from you and all you have to look back on is a memory.

So I sit here anxiously awaiting the proofs of my family photos. I can’t wait to see what the pictures look like. But I can smile today and laugh at how much fun we had just being a family and having a camera and a talented photographer follow us around to capture these candid moments. It was a day without early alarm clocks ringing, a day without daddy coming home late from work. There were no uniforms to wash and press, there were no lunches to pack and there were no emails and text messages from work.  There were no gun belts or badges. It was two people who found that they were still very much in love after 12 years and it was two children playing in the grass or riding in a wagon. While trying to freeze a memory on glossy photo paper and canvas, we made memories in our minds that will stay forever in my heart, and now I can’t wait to do it again!

Lindy Knapp was born and raised in Virginia and has been with her husband/deputy for 12 years. They have two toddler daughters. She and her husband met while studying law enforcement in college and went through the police academy together. After a year long chemo battle fighting malignant melanoma and then the birth of two children, Lindy has settled into her new and rewarding position as a wife behind the badge.

We are also pleased to announce the scholarship award for this year’s second place winner, Allie Beth Carpenter,  of Decaturville, TN.  Allie is the daughter of a Special Agent – Criminal Investigator with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and will be attending Freed Hardeman University in the fall studying Forensic Accounting.  In addition to her volunteer work with many local community service organizations, Allie is a Varsity athlete in golf and soft ball and maintained an overall GPA of 4.15. Chandler and Allie are both outstanding young women with very bright futures.  Wives Behind the Badge is proud to be able to help them achieve their educational goals and we look forward to seeing what their futures hold. The Wives Behind the Badge Law Enforcement Children’s Scholarship is offered every year to the dependent children of law enforcement officers. Scholarships are awarded based on the scholastic achievement, character, and community service of the applicant.  To learn more about the WBTB scholarship program, please visit http://www.wivesbehindthebadge.org/our-work/scholarships/.

State – California

Family (spouse, kids) – My hubby is Chris. We are going to be celebrating our 3 year anniversary May 16th! We don’t have any kiddos yet (we might start trying this July!!) but we have three fur-babies-two cats (Jynx and Daisy) and one dog (Toby)!

Interests or hobbies – I love anything outside-hiking, camping, disc golf, tennis, or even just going for a walk. My mother in law gave me a sewing machine for Christmas so I’ve been teaching myself how to sew over the last couple months and it has turned into a little bit of a hobby! I’m still a beginner and get frustrated easily with that machine, but it’s pretty fun!

Talents – I am a great baker! Whenever I get stressed out, I head straight for the kitchen and bake away. The weird thing though is that I hate sweets so I never eat what I bake-I just send it with the hubs to his office for the guys!

Occupation – I just graduated with my Masters Degree in Occupational Therapy and will start my first “real” grown up job in about a month as an Occupational Therapist at a Skilled Nursing Facility.

My dream vacation would be… anything really! I love getting away and spending time in other places. I’ll go camping, go on a cruise, go backpacking through Europe….seriously, any vacation where there is traveling involved would be perfect!!

My super power is… um, gosh. This one is hard. One thing my husband teases me about all the time is my “super power” to get out of the house. Honestly, not a day goes by that I don’t leave the house at least twice. I’ll go to Wal-Mart or Safeway three times in one day. I’ll buy one thing that we will use but don’t need right at the moment just to get out of the house. I’m not really sure that is a super power though.

Something you can do better than your spouse/significant other… listen – I know, I know. That’s horrible to say, but I swear he just tunes a lot out!

My greatest achievement has been… my schooling-it has taken me 7 years to get my Masters Degree and I have worked really hard for it. I’m not much of a person who brags, but I brag about this accomplishment all the time!

Something that no one knows about me is… a secret! I wont’ tell you something that NO ONE knows about me, but I will tell you something that not a whole lot of people know about me….I have two black belts. One in Tae Kwon Do and one in Hapkido. However, my husband can still pin me down and tickle me because he is 6’5″ and I’m 5’1″–all the self defense in the world can’t make up for how long his arms are compared to mine…it’s kind of not fair!

My favorite food is… anything Mexican. I love burritos, tostadas, taco salads, tacos, everything and anything…the spicier the better!

The 3 things I would want if I was stranded on a desert island… my hubby, diet coke, and a fully working and fueled airplane to get off the island!

My secret crush is… Josh Duhamel, ahhh, such a cutie!

LEO spouses are strong – we learn early on that we will spend time alone, that we often do things without our significant other, and that we cannot count on the written schedule to be the real schedule.  But are we prepared and strong enough to deal with the reality of that knock on the door?

My own knock on the door on January 2, 2012, brought my law enforcement fears and reality home – into my life, into our children’s life, into our  family’s life.  The cold hard fact was that we faced that worry, that internal fear that is not talked about at the swearing in ceremony, or the orientation, or the occasional events that the spouses attend.  Our knock on the door changed our lives forever, bringing an entirely new view of the LE community – the thin blue line – and the need for talking about this event to others.

My knock on the door brought with it the normal things you would think might happen, if you ever dared to think about it.  A kind officer quietly telling you there has been a serious accident, the waiting for the Chief of Police to arrive to transport you to the hospital, the officers in blue, lining the doorway as you enter the ER, and the awkward silence as you hear stated over and over again, “The Wife is here.”
The Wife – my new found title .  I am now the Wife of Officer Mackall.  No longer my own person as we enter the hospital, and the headlines, and the crush and comfort of the support of the thin blue line.  A giant blue bubble, our lives are absorbed into a steady stream of uniforms, and support, food deliveries and business cards handed to me each day.  New connections, departments connecting, and our family, adrift in the middle of the chaos, watching as my officer struggles to live, to breath on his own, and to return to both his home family, and to his family in blue.

After our knock on the door, our lives were dramatically changed forever.  But each day towards recovery brings the support of his brotherhood along with us, forever linking us to a department, a lodge, and a community of support.

After the knock on the door, everything changed.  After the knock on the door, life began anew, with the backing of blue supporting us each step of the way, and our family goal to bring that level of support to another, when the time comes.

Lisabeth Mackall is the wife of Officer Frank Mackall of the Savage PD in MN.  They have three children with busy schedules and lives as many law enforcement families.  On January 2nd of this year, her husband was involved in critical car accident that left him in a coma.  He recently was discharged home to continue his recovery with his family.

State – New Jersey

Family – My husband of 7 years is Pablo Sanchez (Sergeant, Warren County Sheriff’s Department – Division of Corrections). We have an English bulldog named Folsom who was Mr. December in the 2011 WBTB Puppies Behind the Badge calendar.

Interests or hobbies – I have a B.A. in American Studies and a M.A. in American History, and I love reading historical non-fiction and fiction and watching historical documentaries. Pablo and I enjoy target shooting (handgun and rifle) at our local sportsmen’s club and playing Spanish card games like Escoba and Chichon. I love watching and competing in pageants (I was Mrs. New Jersey 2008). And of course, I love dancing!

Talents – I’m a professional ballroom dancer and instructor, so dancing is my talent, hobby, and profession! I compete with my partner in the American Smooth Division (Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, and Viennese Waltz) and we were most recently Rising Star Quarterfinalists at the 2012 World-O-Rama. I’m also a pretty good baker, with my specialty definitely being my secret recipe pumpkin pie. I also like baking and decorating cakes.

Occupation – I teach ballroom dancing for Arthur Murray Dance Studios, who just celebrated their 100th year of teaching the world to dance. Aside from competing as a professional, I also compete pro/am with my students, who regularly take home Top Student awards from competitions all over the world. I love working for a company that gives back – the Arthur Murray Dance Studios of Northern NJ just hosted “Dancing With Our Heroes” – a ballroom competition pairing local law enforcement officers with professional dancers. All the proceeds from the event were donated to Wives Behind the Badge, Inc.

My dream vacation would be … “Around the World in 80 Days”! Pablo and I have a dream of visiting every continent together.

My super power is … I have a really, really high pain tolerance, which is helpful as a dancer. I can dance on broken toes, with dislocated bones, and compete 2 days after surgery if I need to! If I became a superhero, I think that my power would be to be able to withstand any degree of pain and keep fighting for “truth, justice, and the American way”!

Something you can do better than your spouse/significant other … Right now, it’s play “Draw Something”! I can always guess the drawing really early. He’s much better at “Words with Friends” though.

My greatest achievement has been … Leaving a career path I wasn’t happy with to pursue dancing full time.

Something that no one knows about me is … I dance and sing with my dog when we’re alone in the house together. My husband doesn’t believe that Folsom dances back with me, but he does!

My favorite food is … Anything spicy! I love really spicy Thai food and Mexican food with lots of jalapeños.

The 3 things I would want if I was stranded on a desert island are … My iPhone (so I would have books and music), a lifetime supply of Coca-Cola, and my husband, of course!

My secret crush is … I definitely have “a type”, so Pablo laughs when I say someone is handsome – it means they look like him!

Officers came to a home in Greenland, New Hampshire to serve a drug-related search warrant when they were fired upon by a man inside with a rifle. Four officers were injured in the shooting and the Chief of Greenland Police Department lost his life, just eight days before retiring. While the events were happening, another stand off was taking place in Orangevale, California from another warrant service gone wrong. Earlier in the day a Modesto, California deputy was shot and killed while trying to deal with an eviction. In Alaska, two Coast Guard members were also shot and killed. It was a horrible night for law enforcement, maybe one of the worst this year to date.

One thing I saw online was the support pouring out from all over the country. It was a bittersweet moment for me. As the battle between good and evil was fought on these unsuspecting towns, I watched one by one as people on my Facebook friends list changed their profile pictures to a shrouded badge or the thin blue line. I saw messages pour out citing thoughts and prayers. I was getting emails and sending emails while texting my husband, who would not be coming home until tomorrow. It was a show of support not just from law enforcement officers, but from the spouses and family members too.  It was a show of solidarity to everyone around and to the towns grieving that we were there in spirit to hold, to comfort and to be a friend.

Being a law enforcement family is not a club or a job. It’s almost a religion or a marriage. It’s people coming together in good times and in bad to help others, people who may have been in your exact shoes or could someday be in your exact shoes. It’s grieving with the widows of a fallen officer; it’s celebrating the birth of a deputy’s new baby. It’s coming to aid when a natural disaster destroys a town and a law enforcement family has just lost everything. I can’t imagine life without this kind of support or friendship. I’ve noticed that I spend a lot more time online these days checking in on people that I may never meet face to face.  One of the first things I do when I log onto my computer in the morning is check the Officer Down alerts and pay my respects to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and their surviving families. I want others to know that they are not alone.

We hope and pray that we will never get that knock on the door, but chances are high in this career that somewhere someone is grieving this morning. The unfortunate number is 53. About every 53 hours an officer falls in the line of duty. I hope someday this number changes but for now we can gather together, send our love and support those families.

Lindy Knapp was born and raised in Virginia and has been with her husband/deputy for 12 years. They have two toddler daughters. She and her husband met while studying law enforcement in college and went through the police academy together. After a year long chemo battle fighting malignant melanoma and then the birth of two children, Lindy has settled into her new and rewarding position as a wife behind the badge.

State – Indiana

Family – Husband David, Victoria (14), Vanessa (9)

Interests or hobbies – I collect angels.  I like to cook and bake.  I also enjoy being creative, and making personalize gifts for friends and family.

Talents – Cooking/baking, candlewicking/embroidering, and/or anything I can be creative with

Occupation – Secretary at Decatur Central High School

My dream vacation would be … To go back to the Florida Keys with David, for at least a week instead of just a weekend this time.  Or to visit Australia.

My super power is … helping others.

Something you can do better than your spouse/significant other … Nothing, really.  We each have our own strengths and weaknesses.

My greatest achievement has been … My marriage and children.

Something that no one knows about me is … I’m left handed.

My favorite food is … Seafood, Italian food, Sweets

The 3 things I would want if I was stranded on a desert island are … David, Victoria, and Vanessa

My secret crush is … I really don’t have one.