Meeting ST reader NC Cop

One of the highlights of this past weekend for me was getting to know ST reader NC Cop. NC has been an active participant in the comments section for almost a year now and is very well-liked and respected by regular visitors to this blog.

NC’s first post was November 22nd of last year. Here’s what he wrote:

Hello all!! I’m a police officer from S.T.’s home state of NC. For the last 13 months I have been working as a contractor in Iraq, retraining Iraqi police. I’ve got 5 more months to go!! Anyway, I can’t tell you how much this site helps!! We get all types of news programs over here and after being bombarded with all the negative press it gets a little depressing! I start to wonder if I’m in the same country that they are showing on TV. Don’t get me wrong, bad things happen over here all the time, but there are so many good things going on, I can’t believe how they have been ignored. Hope I didn’t ramble too much and I just wanted to thank you guys for helping me keep the faith over here!! I think the Iraqi people are going to surprise alot of negative people in the future.

He sent me a few pictures from Iraq, which I posted that same month. It was very obvious from the start that NC was very passionate and committed to what he was doing. He posted in the comments section for the next month, but after this comment he wrote on December 28 2005, we didn’t see him here for several months. I had wondered what was going on with him, and assumed he was too busy in Iraq to post with us here. Then, I rec’d the following email from him in March 2006, which I’ll repost here:

Don’t know if you remember me or not, NC Cop, I was over in Iraq last time I talked to you. I am a police officer in High Point and left to help train Iraqi police. I haven’t been around in a while because my vehicle got hit with an IED on 12/30/05. I lost both my legs below the knee and have been going through therapy ever since. I’m due to get my prosthetics in a month or so and will begin my journey to get back to the police department as a police officer!

Anyway, I didn’t send this for you to feel sorry for me, please don’t!! I have absolutely no regrets about going to Iraq and still believe in the mission to this day!!! Keep up the great work and maybe I’ll talk to you on your website soon!!!

Take care and God bless!!!

I posted this on the blog in response to the email:

Here’s to continued success on NC Cop’s therapy and best of luck on that journey towards getting back to the police department as a police officer. His courage, spirit, and determination combine to serve as great inspiration to me, and I hope it will to those who read this as well.

Since that time, NC has made some amazing progress on this therapy – when I met him last night (he is so tall!) he was walking well, and indicated to me that he is now able to run, which is excellent news! He’s done so well, and continues to be an inspiration to me and so many others. Heck, I didn’t feel like I deserved to be in the same room with him last night, because he’s such a hero and who am I? Some people would not have the outlook on life that NC has after what happened to him. NC is an eternal optimist and has not let the IED explosion stop him from living his life and pursuing his dreams.

I’m so proud of NC Cop and the progress he’s making, and truly honored to be his friend. He is not only a hero to this state, but to this country, too. God bless you, NC!

Oh, and sorry your Yankees lost last night, NC … and I won’t hold against you the fact that you’re a Yanks fan