Last Watch: Deputy Sheriff Sergeant Paul Buckles, Potter County Sheriff's Office - May 30, 2014

Sergeant Paul Buckles, a Sheriff's Deputy with the Potter County Sheriff's Office (Amarillo) was involved in a multiple-agency training exercise dealing with active shooter situations.  During the exercise Sergeant Buckles suffered a heart attack.  He was treated at the scene by officers and paramedics then transported to a nearby hospital.  Though a tremendous effort was made to save his life, Sergeant Buckles died a short time later.

Sergeant Buckles had served with the Potter County Sheriff's Office for over twenty-five years.  He was assigned to the Criminal Investigation Division at the time of his death.  I am proud to honor this veteran officer on the pages of Desert Hot Air, and I extend my deepest sympathy, along with that of other Texans, to the family, friends, and fellow peace officers in their loss.  I also extend my gratitude to Sergeant Buckles for his service to his community and the people of Texas.

Tornadoes Over Denver, OR, But I Thought This Was Not Tornado Alley

My lovely bride returned from Denver yesterday, after surviving what must have been one of the bigger funnel outbreaks that state will see this year.  Well, maybe.  You see, I have for years believed that Denver was not actually in the fabled Tornado Alley of North America.  But my wife's experience there earlier in the week proved that just because a place is not in Tornado Alley does not mean it will never have tornadoes.  In fact my lovely bride was forced to take cover two times as funnel clouds formed directly over downtown Denver, but tornadoes did not touch down, nor was there any physical damage to speak of.  But...

According to the National Weather Service, twenty-four tornadoes are reported in Colorado each year.  The good news is that zero deaths by tornado are reported each year.  It turns out that super cells form in and around Denver then move eastward into Tornado Alley proper.  These same storms move into other states, including Texas, where they really wreak havoc each year.  Colorado deals with twenty-four tornadoes yearly, while Texans can expect at least 135 twisters every year.  But the fact that Denver experiences five times fewer tornadoes than Texas did not comfort my lovely bride one bit, as she sat in the basement of her hotel waiting for the all clear.  Ultimately she made her way safely home, but my curiosity was set to high.

For one thing, I wondered if Denver may have been in Tornado Alley.  So I checked several models of Tornado Alley on the Internet.  Each map was slightly different, in that some renditions of Tornado Alley were slightly wider east and west or longer north and south, but none included Denver.  For another thing, I wondered how Texas compared to the other "member" states of Tornado Alley.  It turns out that Texas by far has more reported tornadoes than does any other state.  The next highest number of tornadoes per year was reported by Florida, at fifty-three.  I was somewhat surprised that Florida was such a distant second. On the other hand, the number of tornadoes reported in Florida is considerable, especially when one notes that Florida is not in Tornado Alley at all.

Here are a few interesting facts from the National Weather Service regarding tornadoes:

If you do not want to be in a tornado, move to Alaska, which reports zero tornadoes per year.
Hawaii is relatively "tornado safe" with only one reported tornado per year.
All of the Midwestern states report at least ten tornadoes per year, but none of those same states report more than thirty-six twisters per year. 
Texas, with the most tornadoes, does not have the highest death toll.  In fact, Mississippi loses the most people to tornadoes each year at ten deaths per tornado season.
While several states report zero people killed each year by tornadoes Maryland reports .07 deaths per year, Nebraska reports .7, and Delaware reports .13 deaths per year due to tornadoes.  Umm...you will have to figure out these stats yourself.  I mean, how can you have .13 of a dead person?

In the mean time, my lovely bride made it home safely from Denver in spite of the storms raging through the area.  And remember, just because you may not live in Tornado Alley does not mean you should not listen to the weather report every now and again.



  

Officer's Last Watch - Detective Charles Dinwiddie -Killeen PD - Killeen,Texas - May 11, 2014

This past weekend was a horrific weekend for Texas Peace Officers, with several officers shot across the state in various situations.  Yet with all the officers shot, we were blessed that only one policeman lost his life.  Charles Dinwiddie and three other officers were executing a search warrant this past Friday when they were fired on by one of the subjects inside the residence.  Two officers were struck and taken to a local hospital.  Detective Dinwiddie fought for his life for two more days, but died on Sunday morning.

This has been a relatively safe year for Texas police officers, with the first line of duty death occurring on March 14th.  That day Officer Mark Uland of the Trinity University Police suffered a heart attack while attempting to evacuate a building during a fire alarm.  Unfortunately other states have lost several police officers during the same time period, with California leading the way.  Seven officers have died in that state since January 1st.  In all, forty-two peace officers have died in the line of duty so far this year, including three officers in Puerto Rico, all shot to death. 

The number of officers killed in the line of duty has declined somewhat over the past decade due to better officer safety techniques and better equipment; nonetheless, the job of enforcing the law and responding to emergencies will always be a dangerous one.  I am proud, though saddened, to honor Detective Dinwiddie on my blog.  I pray for his family and friends, and for the safety of police officers everywhere.  Many more officers will pay the ultimate price protecting you and me through the remainder of the year, yet there will always be those willing to serve in spite of the dangers.  May God bless and protect them all.

A Salute To Our "Greatest Generation" On The Anniversary of V-E Day!

Today is the anniversary of V-E Day.  On this date in 1945 the Allied Forces and the Nazis officially ended World War II by signing a ceasefire in Berlin.  When news of the ceasefire and surrender were announced, thousands of German regular army soldiers raced for their lives (literally) to find American or British forces to whom to surrender.  The Nazis knew that if they were captured by Russian soldiers they could expect cruel treatment and possibly execution.  The Russians were very angry with the Germans due to the millions of civilians and soldiers the Germans had killed while fighting their way to Stalingrad, and the Germans, rightly, feared that their Russian captors would avenge the deaths of their fellow Russians. 

The generation of Americans who fought the Second World War, both in battle and on the home front, demonstrated their greatness, the stuff they were made of, by bringing the nation from the throes of the Great Depression to mightiest war machine the world has ever seen.  Most people who are around my age or older have heard their parents, relatives, or friends talk about World War II and their experiences in the fighting or in missions to support the war efforts by working at behind-the-scenes military jobs or keeping the factories up and running back in the States.

I particularly admire the men (and women as well) who spent those four long years in the fighting overseas.  These soldiers saw their friends killed and injured, suffered through terrible fighting conditions, and often went without sufficient food, ammunition, or equipment.  My great uncle did not talk much about the war during the time I spent with him, but he told me about the terrible cold in the Black Forest of Germany.  Our soldiers, as well as the enemy, had to spend day and night in freezing conditions, with all the misery that entails, while still engaging in combat and carrying out their orders.  I truly do not know how those people did it, nor do I believe I could have endured those conditions.

As the years, and now the decades, have passed many of the veteran survivors of World War II have lived out the remainder of their lives here in the land they fought so hard to save, and then passed on to that better place that is waiting for all of us.  I hope that we have not forgotten the sacrifice of these great Americans, and I hope that those of that generation who still survive know that we have not forgotten them.  I am proud to remember and honor the those Americans, the members of our Greatest Generation on this, the 69th anniversary of V-E Day!