Police Officer Michael L. Draeger

Grandpa Mike,

I would be your second grandson to carry on the Draeger name. I have heard my entire life that you would have been so proud of my brother and I, though I will never know it firsthand. I trust everyone that has ever told me this, but without you here, I would be lying if I said I didn't occasionally wonder. I try to live my life in a way that makes my father proud, and that I think would make you proud as well.

I am currently in a police academy in Michigan. Less than twenty minutes ago as we closed out our first block of instruction on Emergency Vehicle Operations, I shared your story with my fellow cadets. I wanted to impress upon them the very real consequences of the decisions they make as officers. It can not only affect them, and everyone around them, but generations of their families to come.

I don't know how you would feel about your son or grandsons carrying on the law enforcement tradition. But no matter what you would have felt, I hope you would have been proud all the same. Because I feel very fortunate that I am able to continue the tradition of service to the community. I am 26 years old, the same age as you at the time of your passing. I may have taken a detour to law enforcement via military service, but I knew I would end up in law enforcement if I was still able bodied when that time came. And at 26, I still have a lot of years left to offer my fellow man. The same years that you would have had to offer. I'll carry the torch from here and will do my utmost to fill the shoes you left behind.

I'll see you when I see you.

Cadet Draeger
GTBPD / Grandson

June 14, 2022