Joe is my brother and has been nothing but a mentor and a protector to me my entire life. My brother did a tour in the Gulf War and returned home to us to go on and start a family and become an active member of his church and police department. My brother was called up again to war only this time with Operation Iraqi Freedom. Having mixed emotions of going, my brother put on a brave face for his family and stood by his brothers as they headed to training. My brother did his training and on the day they were to deploy (leaving his two daughters and his wife behind) he was told he couldn\'t go because of a medical condition. My brother was heartbroken to say the least, because he felt he let his unit down. That unit ultimately returned home after some casualties. A devestating blow to my brothers heart. My brother is a hard working man and juggles his faith in god, family and career with poise and grace. Today he works 3 jobs to make ends meet. He welcomed his newest daughter, who was just born in June. Logan, his middle daughter, who is 3 years old was just diagnosed with nuerofibromatosis and my brother refuses to let this disease hinder his daugther and will continue to fight the battle to finding a cure for this disease. He is a remarkable man, father, friend, police officer and above most, a brother. He deserves the recognition for all he does because he is just a beautiful person both inside and out and would do anything for anybody if they needed it. It is time that kindness be returned to him.

Signed,
Connie Mehlberg