Sweet Dreams of You: Patsy Cline - March 5, 1963

(This post was intended to run on March 5th but was postponed in respect of the fallen Midland Police Officer Nathan Heidelberg, who gave his life in the service of his community during the early hours of March 5th. )

On this day in 1963, one of the greatest country singers of all time, Patsy Cline, was killed in an airplane crash near Camden, Tennessee.  Patsy (born Virginia Patterson Hensley) had an enrapturing voice that captures one's soul even these several decades after her death.  I was a toddler when she died, but by the time I was old enough to listen to country music on my grandfather's radio in the dairy barn, I was already a Patsy Cline fan.  As one radio DJ said, "Patsy Cline can sing any song and IMMEDIATELY make it her own."  I have to agree wholeheartedly with that assessment.  For instance, Don Gibson, a country superstar of the 60's, wrote and recorded "Sweet Dreams of You."  Gibson's version was not a Top 10 hit, but Patsy Cline's version, released in 1963 only months after her death, completely overshadowed Gibson's version by reaching Number 5 on the country charts and breaking the Top 20 on the Pop charts.  Patsy Cline's "Sweet Dreams" went on to become one of the signature songs of country music.  Today many younger people do not even know that Don Gibson released this song, much less wrote it, but love to hear Patsy Cline's melancholy, yet sultry rendition. 

Patsy Cline put her special vocal "touch" on many country "standards" including some of my favorites, such as "I Fall to Pieces," "Crazy," I Go Walking After Midnight," "She's Got You," and "Faded Love," just to name a few.  "Back" in the days of CDs (compact discs, in case you are under thirty) I wore out two or three Patsy Cline disks.  And celebrities loved Patsy Cline's voice as much as the fans did.  Madonna idolized Patsy Cline's beautiful voice and considered Patsy Cline to be very influential on her own music.  Madonna felt that Patsy Cline had one of the greatest voices of all time and conceded in one interview that her own voice paled in comparison.

Although Patsy Cline left us so many years ago, her memory lives on in her songs.  Even these decades after her death, Patsy Cline's haunting voice in her ballads, in her upbeat tunes, and her bluesy, melancholy songs of broken love, will continue to pull at the hearts of her old fans, while at the same time attracting new admirers, for many years to come.  Thank you, Patsy, for your beautiful songs.  I will always love your voice and your songs, and will continue to have "Sweet Dreams of You."

Patsy Cline
September 8, 1932 - March 5, 1963

End of Watch: March 5, 2019 Officer Nathan Heidelberg, Midland Police Department, Midland TX

This, my first post in weeks, which I planned several days ago to cover a different subject, has been roughly and brutally shoved aside, and my heart is very sad with the post I am forced to write this evening.  I did not know Officer Heidelberg, other than to wave at him as he passed in and out of the hospital where I work.  But he was a respected officer of the Midland Police Department, and had the honor and responsibility of serving as a Field Training Officer, an assignment not lightly passed out by police management.

When a police officer loses his life in the line of duty, it is always tragic.  Many times officers are murdered by criminals, many times officers are struck by vehicles, and many others are killed in various ways each year...but I have to say, Officer Heidelberg's death has to be one of the most senseless waste of an officer's life I have ever heard of, and this makes this tragedy so much the harder to bear for his family and his fellow officers.  And this is one of the most senseless actions of an armed citizen that I have ever heard of in my life, again, making this officer's death all the more difficult to understand.

Officer Heidelberg, the "rookie" officer he was training, and two other experienced officers, responded to a residential burglar alarm.  This alarm was the type this is monitored by an alarm company, which then summons police to the location in question.  One other thing the alarm company does (or is supposed to do) is find out if the owner is home, and if so, inform the owner that police are on the way.  I have no idea if the particular alarm company followed this procedure.  The Texas Rangers are investigating all of these things.

Whatever the case, the four officers approached the residence, at which time the owner stepped out the front door.  The police officers (as verified by multiple body cameras) loudly announced repeatedly that they were police officers and that they were there to check the home and property.  Not only that, but there were at least three patrol cars parked outside the house when the owner stepped outside.  Inexplicably, the owner opened fire, striking Officer Heidelberg in the chest just above his ballistic vest.  In what must be one of the greatest acts of restraint of force ever by police, the other officers gave the shooter a chance to lay down his weapon.  Certainly they would have been justified in returning fire upon seeing Officer Heidelberg struck down.  But, in fact, the homeowner was not injured.

This man later (after hiring an attorney) said that he thought the officers were "invading" his home.  Never mind that this man ran OUTSIDE his home and began wildly firing at persons who identified themselves as police officers, were in uniform, and had left marked police cars parked on the street.  To invade a home, the actors would need to at least be AT THE DOOR OR WINDOW OF THE HOME AND ATTEMPTING TO MAKE ENTRY.  He would not have been justified firing at real burglars, much less the police, in these circumstances.  The man was rightly arrested and charged with killing the officer, although not capital murder.

May the Good Shepherd enfold Officer Heidelberg's family, friends, and fellow officers tonight, and comfort these people as only the Good Shepherd can. May the Good Shepherd protect the officers that are left to carry on without Nathan Heidelberg with them tonight.  I am honored, yet saddened, to lift up Officer Heidelberg here, to thank him for his service and his ultimate sacrifice.

I also hope the shooter, in light of this most senseless action that he has taken, will voluntarily give up the ownership of his guns.  He is clearly not responsible enough, nor capable of clear judgment, to ever be trusted with deadly weapons again.  He could have easily shot his own family member or a neighbor who might have been coming to the residence to check on his safety.  His actions are inexplicable.  Was he so afraid that he decided to shoot anything that moved near his house?  Worse, was he so arrogant and careless that he would shoot anyone found outside his residence, no questions asked, just because his burglar alarm had been triggered?  We all know that many things, including inclement, extremely cold weather, can activate burglar alarms.  Yes, a person has the right to protect himself and his family, but with that right comes the responsibility to clearly identify any potential target as either a criminal or someone else.  The death of Officer Nathan Heidelberg was so senseless and needless, and so very avoidable, had the homeowner acted reasonably.

And the Thin Blue Line in heaven boasts one more officer tonight.