OFFICER
DENNIS GUERRA:
AN EXAMPLE
OF VALOR
FLAGS TO FLY
AT HALF MAST CITYWIDE
NYPD OFFICER
DENNIS GUERRA
LEAVES BEHIND
A WIFE AND FOUR CHILDREN
TAGS:
R.I.P. OFFICER GUERRA, LINE OF DUTY DEATH,
NYPD
MOURNS TRAGIC LOSS, MAYOR DE BLASIO QUOTE COMMENT,
THIN
BLUE LINE ONE FIBER THINNER,
NYC,
NYPD
(Wednesday April 9, 2014, The
Bronx, NYC) The inadequacy of words is
most acutely evident at a time such as this. While a vocabulary exists to
express the emotions and feelings in the face of such a tragedy, they all fall
short. They are, after all, just
words. When a man’s actions are
such that we are awed by them our vocabulary no matter how expansive and detailed it
is it will not be capable of providing a way to express that which is in our hearts
and minds without them sounding tired and worn.
Some of this is because we have over used some words and undervalued
some actions. When the true mettle of a
man is exposed for the world to see it is a challenge to give it voice. That which is so crystal clear in our minds
rings hollow and flimsy no matter the words used.
Earlier this morning a New
York City Police Officer, 38 year old Dennis Guerra, passed from this earthly
realm after succumbing to injuries sustained last Sunday when he and his still
hospitalized partner waded into a thick blanket of toxic smoke and carbon
monoxide responding to calls about that fire raging on the 13th
floor of a New York City Public Housing building on Surf Avenue out in Coney Island. The fire was intentionally started by a 16
year old resident of that building who set a mattress on fire because he “was
bored”. The ironies are stunning between
these two people. A Cop without a second
thought rides the elevator up to the floor where the fire was most intense and
is knocked unconscious by the super-heated noxious billows of smoke condensed
in the narrow corridors of that building.
But the ironies are not what
we dwell on today nor is it the time to allow our anger and rage to distract us
from honoring the son, the man, husband, father of four, and eight year NYPD Veteran
Officer. Dennis Guerra epitomizes the
term “Public Servant”. As part of his
sworn duty to provide safety and security for our City and our 9 million
residents he reacted to aid and assist those residents at the point where the
blaze was most threatening. Neither he nor his 36 year old partner and mother
of four, Rosa Rodriguez, had any idea what awaited them as soon as that
elevator’s doors slid open but that fact did not dissuade them or hamper their
response.
Today when Mayor Bill de
Blasio said, "On behalf of all 8.4 million New Yorkers, our hearts go out”
to the Guerra family he was likely expressing his own feelings because it would
be a false claim to say that this NYPD Officer’s death is a “shared loss”, “a
shared tragedy”, because it simply isn’t so.
It is however a very real shared loss experienced by the entire NYPD,
past and present members alike, and the families of active duty Police Officers who often must deal with
sacrifices from the most minor disruption of family plans to a major life
altering catastrophe such as the Guerra’s face from this day forward.
With the public and media
typically so intent to tarnish the NYPD and any of its Members over any
infraction real, rumored or false, the unseen thousands of acts of humanity, of
quiet kindness and humility, of decency and courage are lost; buried beneath the average New Yorker’s
consciousness when they think of the men and women serving in NYPD. Perhaps that is natural and not an exception
to a norm that applies in other parts of the country. Police Officers are Law Enforcers and, as
such, they perform all the down and dirty work that must be handled every day
and every night to keep the multitude protected from the criminal
minority. But often, they are called upon to act in ways far afield from enforcing the law. That was the scenario last Sunday.
That Officers Guerra and Rodriquez raced to face down a danger not in the form of a man with a gun or a violent drama being played out is also part of what Police Officers do. They faced a menace in the form of a corridor from hell engulfed in flames with smoke depriving the Officers that essential element for life – oxygen. As the fire feasted on the available oxygen the clock ticking off the remaining minutes of the life span for both Officers had already begun. But, a brain deprived of oxygen dies within minutes and it was in that smoke chocked corridor where life departed from Officer Guerra’s body. Having never awakened from his coma, with no detectable neural activity, in the small early hours of this morning, the Guerra family decided that any life so dependent on the medical technology that can keep a heart beating as long as electricity is available, would be no life at all. They understood the cruel fact of “brain dead”.
That Officers Guerra and Rodriquez raced to face down a danger not in the form of a man with a gun or a violent drama being played out is also part of what Police Officers do. They faced a menace in the form of a corridor from hell engulfed in flames with smoke depriving the Officers that essential element for life – oxygen. As the fire feasted on the available oxygen the clock ticking off the remaining minutes of the life span for both Officers had already begun. But, a brain deprived of oxygen dies within minutes and it was in that smoke chocked corridor where life departed from Officer Guerra’s body. Having never awakened from his coma, with no detectable neural activity, in the small early hours of this morning, the Guerra family decided that any life so dependent on the medical technology that can keep a heart beating as long as electricity is available, would be no life at all. They understood the cruel fact of “brain dead”.
Our City lost one of our good
guys today who also happened to earn his living as a Police Officer. But, ask
any Police Officer about the thought of losing their life on the Job and to a
man or woman you will always get the same reply; it would be a noble way to go
especially if my actions saved the life or lives of another. If Officer Guerra had been asked that
question last Saturday night that is almost certainly the answer he would have
provided.
Rest in Eternal Peace Officer,
your Job here is complete. EOW. Amen.
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The Brooding Cynyx 2014 © All Rights Reserved
