SATURDAY NIGHT, THE NIGHT BEFORE FATHER'S DAY, I GOT A TEXT FROM MY BROTHER......"brother, I just got a huge bust, my biggest prior was 4 grams, just got 47 grams, i am totally jazzed, talk to ya later".

MY BROTHER WANTED TO BE A COP SINCE I CAN REMEMBER HIM TALKING. It's in his blood. Our uncle is retired LASD, my cousin is active LASD. I remember when he finally got his badge. He had his dream job. Now, he had a huge bust. I was happy for him.

THE NEXT TEXT FROM HIM WASN'T SO GREAT........"A friend of mine was just killed on duty in a car crash. Don't call me. I'll call you. He trained me. He was working in Marion County near Salem. I didn't want you to worry if you saw something in the news."

KELLY FREDINBURG WAS KILLED WHILE ON DUTY SATURDAY NIGHT. We lost one of the good guys. Kelly was another guy who wanted to be a cop they day he exited the womb. He was born for it. His mother jokingly said, "He is a mother's nightmare!" remembering a night she talked to her son after an altercation with a perpetrator who was high on meth.

I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE THE STORY OF HOW HE DIED, NOT TO MAKE YOU FEEL SICK, BUT TO HOPEFULLY CHANGE THE WAY YOU LOOK AT POLICE OFFICERS.

Saturday night, a police officer responded to a domestic violence call. When he got there, he got into a fight with a perp and called for back-up. THAT IS A CALL THAT NO OFFICER IGNORES. Kelly immediately responded to that call for help from a fellow officer. He was driving fast, and had his lights and sirens going. He was driving on a two-lane highway. When he approached oncoming traffic, they did what they were supposed to and pulled over to the side until he passed.

As he approached more oncoming traffic, the first two cars pulled over. The third did not. The third car, for reasons still unknown, WENT AROUND THE FIRST TWO CARS INTO THE OPPOSITE LANE. Kelly tried to get out of the way by going off the side of the road. The oncoming car continued to drift over. They collided, head-on, at the fog line of Kelly's lane. Kelly's car flipped over and rolled several times before sliding to a halt and catching fire.

A young man who was near the scene rushed to Kelly's car. Kelly was trying to get out of the car, but couldn't because it was crushed tightly around him. The young man tried to free him. Two officers who were responding the same call Kelly was, stopped at the scene and also tried to help free Kelly from the car. The fire became too hot, and they had to back away. Kelly burned to death inside the car.

YOU CAN CATCH YOUR BREATH BEFORE READING ON. I KNOW YOU WILL NEED TO, BECAUSE I NEEDED TO WHEN MY BROTHER RELAYED THE STORY TO ME.

In fact, after telling me the story, there was a moment of silence and then my brother said, "I know its a kick in the balls to hear that. It was a kick in the balls for me and everyone who heard it. I can finally tell you without crying."

MY BROTHER DOESN'T CRY. EVER. BUT THIS MADE HIM CRY.

KELLY WAS A MAN WHO DEDICATED HIS LIFE TO KEEPING PEOPLE SAFE. HE DEDICATED HIS LIFE TO PROTECTING THE INNOCENT. That is what good police officers do. Kelly was one of the good guys. No, he was one of the GREAT guys.

AFTER THE MEMORIAL SERVICE AND PROCESSION, MY BROTHER CALLED ME. "I'm emotionally exhausted, brother. I'm just exhausted. I just wanted to call you and vent." I thought he was going to tell me how angry he was. How they thought the guy driving the other car was an unlicensed, illegal alien. How he wished the driver of the car had died. How he wished he could have been the one to respond to the scene. How he wished there had been a fire extinguisher handy. HE DIDN'T SAY ANY OF THOSE THINGS. Here is what he said:

"Brother, Kelly was a good guy. He reminded me a lot of you and Brian (a mutual friend). He had a lot of friends. He was the kind of guy who didn't listen to the radio when he drove around because there was always a friend or aquaintance to text or call.

When he changed from Polk County to Marion County, he tried to get all of us to go with him. He always stayed in touch. He joined the Elks lodge and then tried his best to get all of us to join with him. He was always there to help when a friend or neighbor needed it.

Brother, he gave my son a teddy bear the day he was born.

There were over 1000 people at the memorial service. There were over 100 patrol cars in the procession.

Brother, I am just emotionally drained. I'm gonna let you go, but I justed wanted to share that. I love you."

And I love my brother.

THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE A COP, WHETHER HE IS JUST DRIVING BEHIND YOU MAKING YOU NERVOUS, PULLING YOU OVER FOR DRIVING TOO FAST AND YOU WISH HE WOULD GO FIND THE "REAL" BAD GUYS, OR SPEEDING PAST YOU TO SOME UNKNOWN DESTINATION, NEVER FORGET WHAT THEY DO.

My mom later talked to my brother about what had happened. She relayed this to me:

"John, I am really impressed with how he is handling it. I thought he was going to be struggling with anger, but he is doing well. He is just sad. He said that the thing that really bothers him, though, is that there were people standing on the side of the road who didn't try to help. And there were people who DROVE BY AND DIDN'T STOP TO SEE IF THEY COULD HELP. Maybe if everyone who was there had tried to help, they could have gotten him out."

HERE IS MY PLEA TO YOU: DON'T FORGET WHAT THEY DO FOR US. DON'T FORGET. EVER.

KELLY FREDINBURG - "GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN"