Depending upon your take on the ongoing global pandemic, if you are like us you are remaining cautious until the day when there are vaccines and treatments widely available for COVID-19. Perhaps if you know someone who became seriously ill or died from this new disease, you have a healthier respect.

But for those who are on the front lines and always have been, they really didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.

Last year we began a tribute to local first responders, the men and women who man fire trucks, make police calls, staff ambulances and helicopters and do so many things behind the scenes to help keep our communities safe.

This year the importance of their work has been magnified as cities, counties, states, nations and the world try to deal with this silent killer.

First responders don’t have many options to limit person-to-person contact. They already risk their lives daily, and this just added one more huge gamble to the mix.

When a completely healthy person can carry and easily spread a disease with potentially life-changing or fatal consequences, that’s just a scary situation.

So I think I speak for many, if not all of us, when I say, “We salute you for what you do, will support you any way we can, and just want to say a heart felt thank you for your service at this most critical time in our nation.”