To the editor:

As regards the American Red Cross Community Heroes Awards, a sincere thank you to the Red Cross for sponsoring this important means of recognizing the accomplishments of some Baker and Union county residents. Certainly all of the recipients are well-deserving of the recognition they received.

One of the awards resulted from the actions of two professional law enforcement officers in recovering missing person Doris Anderson from the wilderness after she had been missing for a number of days. Thank God for that positive outcome.

I would like to point out, however, that there was another group involved in that effort which is equally deserving of recognition and thanks. Dozens of men and women who are members of the Baker County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team devoted hundreds of hours to that case. I am not a SAR Team member, but I know firsthand that over the past several years alone SAR has contributed to life-saving outcomes often under dangerous and trying conditions.

It is important to note that all SAR Team members are volunteers and they leave their jobs and families to assist with multi-day searches often at substantial personal sacrifice.

As much as Deputy (now Sergeant) Ash and Trooper Hawkins are well deserving of praise for their efforts, so too are the volunteers of SAR. They are a talented, dedicated group of men and women and are also community heroes.

Jerry Boyd

Baker City