Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
By Martin J. Schwartz – Franklin Twp. Gloucester County Resident/Author of the book ‘Policing Is About People’
On 8 August 1974, at Minot AFB in North Dakota, I reported to guard mount (roll call) for my 4 pm to 12 midnight tour of duty. I served as a security policeman, and as far as I knew, the shift was going to be just like all the others. I soon found out this night was going to be different. According to the duty roster, I was posted as the bomber alert area entry controller. In other words, I wouldn’t be walking my normal post guarding a nuclear weapon loaded B-52 all night. This was a rare event for a one-striper with less than one year of service. I would have a gate shack where I could relax and smoke cigarettes, and above all, get hot chow. A hot meal in the alert crew’s dining room was far superior to the customary bologna and cheese box lunch. My thoughts of a breather changed rapidly when the phone rang a short time after being posted. Communications informed me that our security threat level was elevated along with the country’s defense posture (Defense Condition/DEFCON). I don’t recall what DEFCON level we got to, and it’s classified (or was), but thankfully it was short of war. What it meant for security police in the Strategic Air Command was no refuge in gate shacks, no hot chow, and 12-hour shifts for the foreseeable future. Later that night, I was told that Air Force One departed Andrews Air Force Base with Richard M. Nixon on board. When that Boeing aircraft landed in California just a few hours later, it would do so as Air Force Special Air Mission 27000 (SAM27000) as the passenger would no longer be the president. Nixon resigned the presidency, and Gerald Ford was now our commander-in-chief. Besides losing my opportunity for hot chow, the thing I remember most about that night was the uncertainty of what was going to happen next. A few years later, I was commanding an investigative unit and we were investigating several police officers. A couple of my young detectives came to me excited with the proof necessary to prosecute the officers for serious crimes. Part of me was saddened by the evidence, and I cautioned my detectives about what would happen next. The next day they would arrest active duty, uniformed police officers, and I knew it would be one of the saddest days of their career. Those detectives still remind me of that day. They recall how sad it was and their feelings of uncertainty of what was next. This week we witnessed history as President Donald J. Trump was impeached for the second time in his presidency. We watched as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, sign the Articles of Impeachment during a prime-time news event. Remarkable to me however, considering the rhetoric over the last four years, from both republicans and democrats, was that Congresswoman Pelosi said nothing, and she refused to answer questions. At one point during her presentation on the House floor I think she said this was a sad day or something to that affect. I saw no excitement. In fact, I saw sadness from one of the President’s staunch opponents. What’s next?These events create feelings of sadness. Each event was predicated by actions that created similar cracks, fissures, and fractures in a bedrock of principles that are indisputable. More than that, the principles are the foundation the constitutional framers built upon to guarantee our life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Our commander- in-chief resigning; police officers committing crimes; congress leveling charges against the president for inciting a riot; these things are not supposed to happen. Amid much uncertainty, the cracks will heal. They always do, but they will persist as painful reminders of the fragility of democracy.