Local Marine's Silent Gesture Speaks Volumes To Officers
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LAKE WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) – He stood guard over officers who may not have even been aware. A local marine was willing to sacrifice himself for strangers.
As two Fort Worth police officers took a break from their beats to grab dinner at a local Chick-Fil-A, another man in uniform silently accepted watch.
"I made a decision to sit behind them, on purpose," U.S Marine Corps Lance Corporal Joseph Cadena explains.
As they relaxed, ate their meal and joked with one another, Cadena sat one table over, watching the doors.
"I sat there silently after I finished my meal, and continued to watch both exits, while they ate, I did not leave until after they left," explains Cadena.
As he watched these officers' backs or watched "their 6", he says he thought of the two Fort Worth officers hurt on the job on Friday, and the five Dallas officers who never made it home on July 7th.
"I was unarmed, however in the event that anyone would have tried to take their lives I would have been more than ready to sacrifice my own for theirs," Cadena explained in a post on his Facebook page.
"A lot of people think that sounds crazy. 'Why would you give your life for a stranger?' Most people don't realize police do that for civilians every day," he says.
As tensions between police and civilians continue to boil over across the country, more than ever, Cadena believes those who wear the uniform are targets.
"In any occupation there will be people who make mistakes, but you shouldn't judge an entire occupation because of those few people," he says.
Lance Corporal Cadena wrapped up active duty in December and says he is seriously considering donning another uniform, that of a police officer.
"I am a United States Marine, I know what brotherhood is, and even though these men are not Marines, they know what it is like to serve their country, their community," Cadena's Facebook post read.
"I will stand watch over them, the way they stand watch over me. Enjoy your dinner Blue, Green has your 6."
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