LITTLE-NOTICED HEROIC DEFENDERS

Unsung heroes are the stuff of which America is made. In places like La
Plata, Ground Zero, and a thousand communities nationwide, they are the
sudden, steady wind beneath fragile wings. They come uncalled, lift us
unrewarded, and reassure us asking nothing. They confirm the power of
serving a greater good, and breathe new life into the word hope. When worry
and pain retreat, slow as the tide, they have left us safe again, upon the
beachhead of renewed faith.

At our elbows, almost unnoticed, these are individuals of good heart,
groups that care more for service than strife, companies that put aside
wants to meet others' immediate needs, and government employees drawn by a
chance to really help. Among our unsung heroes are churches and synagogues,
grandparents and teens, people of public note, people unknown to all.

On a larger scale, these are groups like the American Red Cross,
Partnership for a Drug Free America, Salvation Army, Boy Scouts, Girl
Scouts and United Way. Asking little, giving a lot, the ocean of unsung
heroes includes government employees drawn by duty and service.

Somewhere in many of these swirls, especially those affecting children and
parents, teachers, police officers, community-based groups, is a set of
government employees who deserves special notice -- especially right now.
Like many nongovernment groups, these folks seldom get -- and do not seek
- -- special mention. Still, what they do affects all of us for the better.

Can you guess who they are? Does President Bush know? Do members of
Congress know? Does Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld know? Hints are easy
to assemble. Yet ironically, this group is both admired at the local level
and largely unknown by national policy makers.

Men and women in this group live in nearly every community in every state
and territory of the United States. They are united by a mission and
uniform. They make disproportionate sacrifices, place themselves at
unnecessary risk, teach others what they alone know, support others where
there is no one to help -- and invariably leave an indelible footprint on
the communities they serve.

Hint: This unsung group gets a government paycheck that barely covers a
fraction of its contribution to our health and security. Hint: They serve
on homeland soil, giving kids, teachers and law enforcement officers the
benefit of learning and protection that makes measurably safer each
community served.

Who are they? What is the mission? How can they be in every state, yet so
seldom given their due by policymakers and opinion leaders? Hint: They are
the dots that -- when one stands away -- create the picture of
community-based safety and counterdrug support. Hint: They are servants we
barely notice, yet who create and deliver information and physical support
to communities from Florida to Maine, Washington to California, Alaska to
Hawaii.

Hint: Racking up countless hours of community-based sweat, they have
reduced the risk that American kids will become entangled in drug
addiction. Hint: They have trained state and local police officers by the
tens of thousands in techniques of information analysis, surveillance,
mission planning and execution.

Hint: They support life-saving State-Federal partnerships called
High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas, offer incomparable military
discipline and expertise to those facing international foes on home turf,
and are essential to catching drug traffickers at U.S. borders, stemming
drug-based terrorist funding and establishing the beachhead for a drug-free
America.

So, do we know these people? And do we thank them? Who are they? They are
the National Guard, in particular, the National Guard counterdrug personnel
who give life to thousands of state and federal counterdrug programs,
cascading into almost every hamlet, city and police department in the
country. If there be wind beneath the wings of state and local law
enforcement, or border agents with too much data and too little time, or
community-based groups hungry for planning, material and the knowledge to
blunt international drug groups in their midst, it is here -- in the
National Guard, and the National Guard's counter-drug personnel. Here are
unsung heroes.

Why remember them? Because communities and nations are not held together by
fences and walls, nor even strong defenses against those outside.
Communities and nations are made safe by countless individuals, asking
little, getting little, contributing a lot. We are stronger through belief
that such efforts as those of the National Guard's little noticed
counterdrug officers truly matter. The depth of our nation's commitment to
a secure future is in the pulse of such people, and the hearts that drive
that pulse.

United we stand -- yes, but here is the stuff of which America is made,
people who care about our kids and work daily to brighten our future.