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Published on Wednesday, August 4, 2004
in the Pensacola News Journal
The word ''hero'' has been used a lot lately and sometimes I think we have lost the real meaning of the word. I feel that the true definition is someone who willingly puts their life at risk to save another.
On the evening of July 7, my 57-year-old husband and 30-year-old daughter were in the middle of Choctawhatchee Bay in our old boat when a storm came up and swamped the boat. It sank in just a few minutes. If it weren't for the Walton County Sheriff's Department, Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Fish and Wildlife and the Coast Guard station in Destin, my husband and daughter would not be alive today. These agencies never gave up and after eight hours of searching finally found them alive and exhausted and brought them home to us.
Saying thanks is hardly enough, but what I wish to express to these hard-working, dedicated men and women is hard to put into mere words. They called me every 30 minutes giving me updates and never stopped looking even after they themselves thought there was probably no hope.
So the next time you see one of these true ''heroes'' who are only doing their job, as they kept telling me, smile and say thanks for all they do for us.
-- Renee Klosterman
DeFuniak Springs