Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

My thoughts and prayers are with your family.

HEROES LIVE FOREVER

Deputy U.S. Marshal
U.S. Marshals Service

June 7, 2005

To SA Hardesty's Family, He served his country well. In the days, weeks and months to come, find peace in knowing that he was a true American Hero! Everyone at the FBI is feeling this loss and we are all thinking of you and praying for you. May the soul of SA Hardesty rest in Peace and may the eternal light shine upon him.

Fellow Special Agent
FBI Chicago

June 7, 2005

Another hero gone. May God bless your family and friends as they go through this difficult time. May you rest in peace in the house of the Lord.

Kevin Cannon
Brother of Keith Cannon EOW 5/4/05

June 7, 2005

Thank you for your service and dedication to our country. My prayers go out to your family and friends. God Bless.

SGT. J.W. FISH
N.C. PORTS AUTHORITY POLICE

June 7, 2005

To the family, friends and co-workers of Special Agent Robert Hardesty you are in my thoughts and prayers. Thank-you for all you did Special Agent Robert Hardesty, you will be missed, but never forgotten

wife of an Deputy Sheriff
MN

June 7, 2005

Rest in peace brother.

Special Agent/SWAT Brother (SF)
FBI-SF

June 7, 2005

God Speed warrior. I wish I could change the outcome but I can't. Rest now you have earned it.

State Trooper D Osborne K-9 Coco
Tennessee Highway Patrol

June 7, 2005

Again we mourn as another hero is taken from us. My deepest sympathy to the family, friends and co-workers of Special Agent Hardesty. May the Lord give you strength and bless each of you during this time.

Rest in peace for your watch here is over; walk in heavens beat and guide us to protect and serve others safely.

US Ranger Catroppa
National Park Service GA

June 6, 2005

Your tour of duty has ended by having given the ultimate sacrifice.
Thank you for your service to the bureau and our nation.
You will not be forgotten by those whose lives you touched.
Thoughts and prayers are with your family, friends and
your fellow agents as they mourn your untimely loss.

† Rest In Peace, Special Agent Hardesty, May God Bless You †

Jeffrey Williams
Highland, Indiana

June 6, 2005

On behalf of the members of the Sutherlin Police Department, I send to you, our heartfelt condolences and prayers in your time of sadness. May your fallen officer’s legacy live on in the memories of his friends and family. Rest now brother, after a job well done. We’ll take it from here.

Corporal Justin Marquis
Sutherlin Police Department, Sutherlin, OR

June 6, 2005

SA Hardesty, thanks for your service and sacrifice. Our thoughts and prayers, and the thoughts and prayers of the rest of your Bureau family are with your wife and children.

Special Agent Leatherman
FBI - Cleveland

June 6, 2005

FROM THE HALLWAYS OF JEFFERSON DORM TO THE STREETS OF AMERICA YOU WILL BE REMEMBERED.

SPECIAL AGENT
FBI

June 6, 2005

MY THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU, YOUR FAMILY AND ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS. GOD BLESS YOU AND REST IN PEACE.

Tpr Joel V. Heard #2155
Louisiana State Police Troop-F

June 6, 2005

Rob, I just found out about your passing and was speechless. We met while working on a CT case at the Peoria RA from Dec. '02 to Feb. '03, I was out of CG and you SI (Bloomington RA). Over lunch or in the hall or office, we had many long talks about the job(s), what we (dis)liked, and where we were headed. I am stunned and don't know what else to say, you were a really good guy and great LEO. You will be sorely missed, brother. My condolences to your family. God bless you.

Tpr. Eric O. #4358
IL State Police & former FBI SA

June 6, 2005

The men and women of this department would like to express our deepest sympathy to the faimly, friends and co-workers of Special Agent Robert Hardesty. May you rest in peace brother, we now have the watch.

PBA
Town of Camillus Police Department, NY

June 6, 2005

Rest in peace brother.

Officer Shaun McCready
Greenfield Township(PA) Police Department

June 6, 2005

Rest in Peace SA Hardesty. My deepest condolences to the Hardesty family, Agent Hardesty's colleagues at the FBI, the Porter County (64) Sheriff's Office, and Indiana Excise Police.

CA Peace Officer (native Hoosier - 45)

ID
CA Peace Officer

June 6, 2005

Training to save lives against those who threaten our country and freedom. God be with the family and friends during this time. The United States of America will be forever in your debt.

Cpl Gary Mintz, Director Traffic Enf.
Henderson County Sheriff's Office, North Carolina

June 6, 2005

The men and women of the Larned P.D. wish to express our depest sympathies to the family, co-workers, and friends of Agent Hardesty. We pray that he has found peace with God and for strength to those who survive. We dedicate today to his memory.

Chief of Police Charles R. Orth
Larned, Kansas Police Department

June 6, 2005

The Florida Police Chiefs Association would like to express our deepest condolences to the family and friends of SA Robert Hardesty, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Our thoughts and prayers are with you during this time of great sadness. Please take comfort in knowing that your extended law enforcement family grieves with you. Special Agent Hardesty, we thank you for your service. You will not be forgotten.

Members and Staff
Florida Police Chiefs Association

June 6, 2005

May God be with the family and fellow officers of SA Hardesty. Carry on and watch over your fellow officers as you sit with God, Thanks for a job well done... God Speed Brother.

Lt. R. Mark Moore
Clinton PD TN.

June 6, 2005

TO: The family; loved ones; friends and department members: A POLICE OFFICER’S PRAYER:--- O, gentle Lord ! Keep the day/night watch with me. As I begin my tour of duty, I ask your protection from all mental, physical and spiritual harm. Sustain me with the knowledge that I am doing your work, endeavoring to keep peace among your people. Help me to be just as I enforce the law without prejudice or favor to anyone. May I be courageous but not reckless in carrying out my duties. Let me respond to all calls with haste realizing that so many are dependent upon me for life and safety. Support me with your consoling power when I am tempted to think no one really cares and that I am taken for granted. Sustain in me the conviction that so many thousands do care and are grateful for my presence. Grant that I may be loyal to my partner and my fellow officers, and that I may back them up effectively when called upon for assistance. Lord, I ask that I may return safely, after my tour of duty, to my loved ones and those who love me. I pray that I may be a good and honorable police officer; and after my tour of duty is over here on earth, may I enjoy the peace and happiness of heaven that you have promised to those who serve you well. AMEN. *** REST IN PEACE ***

Chief ( retired ) Douglas A. Koeppen
Washington New Jersey

June 6, 2005

“When God made Peace Officers….”

When the lord was creating Peace Officers, he was into his sixth day of overtime when an angel appeared and said, “You’re doing a lot of fiddling around on this one.”

And the Lord said, Have you read the spec on this order? A Peace Officer has to be able to run five miles through alleys in the dark, scale walls, enter homes the health inspector wouldn’t touch, and not wrinkle their uniform.

They have to be able to sit in an undercover car all day on a stakeout, cover a homicide scene that night, canvass the neighborhood for witnesses, and testify in court the next day.

They have to be in top physical condition at all times, running on black coffee and half- eaten meals. And they have to have six pairs of hands.

The angel shook her head slowly and said, “Six pairs of hands….No Way.”

“It’s not the hands that are causing me the problems,” said the Lord, “It’s the three pairs of eyes an officer has to have.”

That’s on the standard model? asked the angel.

The Lord nodded. One pair that sees through a bulge in a pocket before he asks, “May I see what’s in there sir?” (When they already know and wishes they had taken that accounting job.) Another pair here in the side of their head for their partners’ safety. And another pair of eyes here in front that can look reassuringly at a bleeding victim and say, “ You’ll be alright ma’am, when they know it isn’t so.”

“Lord,” said the angel, touching his sleeve,” rest and work tomorrow.”

“I can’t,” said the Lord, “I already have a model that can talk a 250 pound drunk into a patrol car without incident and feed a family of five on civil service paycheck.”

The angel circled the model of the Peace Officer very slowly, “Can it think?” she asked.

“You bet,” said the Lord, “It can tell you elements of a hundred crimes, recite Miranda warnings in it’s sleep; detain, investigate, search, and arrest a gang member on the street in less time than it takes five judges to debate the legality of the stop…and still it keeps it’s sense of humor.

This officer also has phenomenal personal control. They can deal with crime scenes painted in HELL, coax a confession from a child abuser, comfort a murder victim’s family’ and then read in the daily paper how Law Enforcement isn’t sensitive to the rights of criminal suspects.

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the Peace Officer. “There’s a leak,” she pronounced. “I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model.”

“That’s not a leak,” said the Lord, “It’s a tear.”

“What’s the tear for?” asked the angel.

“It’s for bottled-up emotions, for fallen comrades, for commitment to that funny piece of cloth called the American flag, and for justice.”

“You’re a genius,” said the angel.

The Lord looked sober. “I didn’t put it there,” he said.


Anonymous

Senior Instructor
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center

June 6, 2005

Special Agent Hardesty, you have served your country with honor. We will carry on from here. To the family of Specia Agent Hardesty you all are in our thoughts and prayers. Please remember that you all are now part of a much larger family. To the men and women of the F.B.I. and the Bureau's HRT team hold yours heads high as you carry on.

Detective First Grade Robert F. Jackson
Metropolitan Police Department Washington D.C./Homicide Branch

June 6, 2005

Rest in peace my brother.

Police Officer
Burlington Township PD NJ

June 6, 2005