Corporal Norbert Melvin Szczygiel

MY PARTNER,NORM [SPACEMAN ] AND I WERE THE SECOND PLAINCLOTHES UNIT, TO A MAN WAVING GUN AT THE SCHAEFER BAR RUN..SUSPECT RAN EAST ACROSS THE STREET, INTO A IRON FENCED APT. LOT..THE FIRST UNIT WAS ON THE NORTH END , I MADE A U-TURN TO THE SOUTH END OF THE COMPLEX..SUSPECT FIRED A SHOT AT THE OTHER UNIT..UNKNOWN TO US HE RAN SOUTH TO WITHIN TWENTY FOOT OF OUR 69 T-BIRD.. NORM WAS ON THE RADIO AS I EXITED THE DRIVER SIDE.. HE FIRED MULTIPLE SHOTS AT US FROM A CORNER BRICK, I RETURNED FIRE.THEN I RECEIVED A SHOTGUN FROM TOM HARPER [ I PREVIOUSLY WAS HIS TRAINING OFFICER] WE CONFRONTED THE SUSPECT. I CANCELLED HIS THREAT WITH MY 870 REM. SHOTGUN..WE THEN FOUND NORM SHOT WITH THE RADIO MIKE IN HIS HAND , AND HIS GUN ON THE FLOOR BOARD , UN FIRED.. IN THE HOSPITAL WE SAT THREE DAYS WITH NORM AS HE FADED AWAY.. HE WAS A TOUGH LOVING YOUNG BRAVE MAN. SMART AS A WHIP. AS WAS TOM HARPER , MY ROOKIE AND FRIEND , WHO STAYED BY MY SIDE AS WE CONFRONTED NORM'S KILLER.. AS I APPROACH 79 YRS OLD =TIME DULLS THE PAIN BUT IT NEVER GOES AWAY..I MISS BOTH MEN WHO DIED LONG BEFORE THEIR TIME. REMEMBER A FAMOUS WRITER SAID " PEOPLE SLEEP PEACEFULLY IN THEIR BEDS AT NIGHT ONLY BECAUSE ROUGH MEN STAND READY TO DO VIOLENCE ON THEIR BEHALF " ===== THE APE !

LIEUTENANT G. BRIGHT [ THE APE ]
DEARBORN POLICE 1968-1999

September 21, 2021