The Editor,
As you will recall, on the last Sunday of September we remember the peace officers who have fallen in the line of duty.
We can recall the funerals, we remember the pain suffered by the young families, and their names are remembered.
Just as a bruise or a black eye is obvious evidence of the violent world in which we ask police to work, these names represent the losses we can see.
Every day, peace officers, just as the military, suffer injuries that we cannot see.
And at times, lives are lost. But those losses and the names do not make it into the media.
The funerals are small, announcements are vague, the friends and family suffer in silence.
It is time we understand that "occupational stress injury" or "post traumatic stress injury" is real and can be fatal.
In the fullness of time, we will understand this disease better and do more to save the lives affected.
For now, please remember those brave men and women named on the National Memorial in Ottawa; but then take a moment to remember those who died as a result of a more subtle job-related disease, those who did their best to serve us and protect us then, because of what we asked them to do and what we asked them to see, they became ill and could go on no longer ... thank you.
