ANZAC Day - Thank you.

As I have wrote about and those that know me, spoken about, is the importance of turning negatives into positives. To go through substantial adversity you need positives to recover. The other aspect for recovery is surrounding yourself with good people. People who make you better, people who can challenge you, people that you have respect for and people who you can learn from.

I have been fortunate to meet and build relationships with a few members of our defence force and who have deployed to war zones and other areas that are extremely dangerous.

The amount of respect I have for these people is immense.

I have often heard coppers say they are part of the warrior class. I disagree and by no means is this disrespectful to those members but for me, the only true warrior class is someone who, by choice, enters a war zone.

Yes we as coppers expect that we are doing dangerous stuff but we do not expect to be shot at daily when on duty. We don't have to roll around in armored vehicles and wearing full body kit and helmets, again no disrespect, just my thoughts.

I have been privileged, and I mean that, it is a privilege, to sit down and listen to small snippets of what they have been through.

To by choice, fly off to a distant land to protect our way of life knowing that you are going to get shot at regularly, drive and/or walk around in areas flooded with improvised explosive devices, having the enemy hide among the civilians and operate in incredibly difficult conditions for months on end, that is a true member of the warrior class.

These people have made me a better person and they continue to do that.

I thank them for putting themselves in harms way to protect us.

I thank all of those that came before them who put themselves in harms way to protect us.

I thank all of those that gave their lives and never returned home.

I thank those that went to war and came home but the war never left them. I sincerely hope that they all reach peace within.

I thank those that work so hard in helping their mentally and physically injured brothers and sisters.

I am just so incredibly grateful that we have the type of person within our community that are willing to sacrifice so much to protect us.

Thank you to the warrior class.

We will never forget the sacrifices you all have made.