April showers bring May flowers, along with a whole host of other special days.

The month kicks off with May Day, and then keeps the celebrations and observances coming, with such holiday highlights as Cinco de Mayo, Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day.

Public servants are fortunate to receive not just one but seven days in this particularly jam-packed month. Celebrated every first full week of May since 1985, Public Service Recognition Week is a time set aside for honoring the men and women who serve our nation as federal, state, county and local government employees.

This year, PSRW will be observed from Sunday, May 5, until Saturday, May 11, 2019, and there will be a variety of ways to mark the occasion.

How to celebrate Public Service Recognition Week

For over three decades, PSRW has been a time not only for ordinary Americans to thank public servants, but for public employees to educate citizens about the work that they do and the reasons that they have chosen public service careers. The program's stated goals include connecting with and educating citizens nationwide about the work of their government, improving the perception and morale of federal workers and other public servants and helping to inspire a new generation of public servants.

To that end, there are several PSRW events planned for this week in May, taking place in a variety of venues ranging from the steps of the Capitol building to some of the smallest towns in the country.

On Sunday, April 28, the festivities got a headstart in the form of the seventh annual Public Service Charity 5K/1M Run/Walk in National Harbor, Maryland. Over 500 runners, walkers and volunteers participated in the D.C. metro area event, raising money to support FEEA, the Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund's disaster relief, emergency hardship loan and scholarship programs.

And on Thursday, May 9, the finalists for the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals will be announced. Named for the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service's late founder, the "Sammies" are the Oscars of government service, awarded to exceptional federal workers who are making the government more effective.

Last year's honorees included Margaret Moeser of the Justice Department and Karen Dodge of the Federal Trade Commission, who led criminal and civil investigations that ultimately resulted in nearly $600 million in financial losses being restored to hundreds of thousands of people who were defrauded by money transfer scams. The massive settlement represented the largest forfeiture ever by a money services business.

The 2018 Federal Employee of the Year award went to Dr. Daniel Kastner, Scientific Director at the National Institutes of Health, who identified an entire new class of rare genetic diseases and treatments to help thousands of patients in the U.S. and around the world.

Similar events will take place all over the country, with various FEB Excellence in Federal Government Awards ceremonies scheduled to take place in multiple cities, ranging from Honolulu to Cincinnati.

In our nation's capital, public servants will also get to enjoy the national pastime. On May 14, the Washington Nationals will host National Federal Workforce Day, providing government employees with discounted tickets to that evening's game and featuring an on-field ceremony before the first pitch.

Local government agencies, Federal Executive Boards, military bases and schools are all encouraged to observe Public Service Recognition Week as well, and the official PSRW website has a Celebration Toolkit that can help you plan your participation. The online resources are designed to provide ideas and tools that can help individuals reach out to their community, local media and local educators to encourage everyone to show public servants the respect and appreciation they deserve.

If you've ever wanted to go on a ride along with first responders, but without exposing yourself to the very real and present dangers faced by those who bravely risk their lives responding to emergency rescue calls, you now need only a basic cable subscription to accomplish your dream.

The new documentary television series "Live Rescue" gets up close and personal with real first responders across the country, providing live look-ins at the life-threatening situations they encounter on a nightly basis.

'Live PD' spinoff 'Live Rescue' airing Monday nights on A&E

In March, the A&E channel announced that it was following up its immensely popular "Live PD" series with the spin-off show "Live Rescue."

"Live PD" follows police officers across the country as they perform their nighttime patrols, broadcasting live select interactions they have in the course of duty. The show is hosted by ABC News chief legal affairs anchor Dan Abrams, who is joined in the studio by police and crime analysts. Throughout each episode, viewers are treated to footage from live video feeds for eight different law enforcement agencies.

The series premiered on the network in 2016, and has since aired 200 episodes over the past three years, in the process becoming one of cable's most-watched programs. In 2018, "Live PD" was the most-viewed show of the year on DVR, video on demand and over-the-top media services, topping every chart except, ironically, the live-viewing category.

"Live PD" can also lay claim to being cable's No. 1 justice series, and the No. 1 show on cable on Friday and Saturday nights.

Looking to replicate that success by focusing on a similar yet different breed of hero, A&E ordered eight two-hour episodes of "Live Rescue" from Big Fish Entertainment, the same MGM Company behind "Live PD."

"'Live Rescue' is the next incarnation of our groundbreaking partnership with Big Fish Entertainment, following the brave paramedics and first responders who risk their lives every day to keep us safe despite the challenges of their jobs," said Elaine Frontain Bryant, Executive Vice President and Head of Programming for A&E. "The team at Big Fish has assembled a best-in-class production team of broadcast news veterans and we are looking forward to adding 'Live Rescue' to the A&E portfolio of brave storytelling."

To host the new program, A&E tapped veteran journalist Ashleigh Banfield, whose previous credits include "CNN Newsroom" and HLN's "Primetime Justice with Ashleigh Banfield." In a commercial for "Live Rescue," Banfield says "everyone should know what first responders go through, and now you can."

The first episode debuted live at 9:00 pm ET on Monday, April 22. Banfield was joined in-studio by analysts Dan Flynn, a nationally registered paramedic and registered nurse in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Titus Tero, a nationally registered paramedic for the City of New Orleans EMS.

With the aid of 32 roaming cameras, the trio was able to keep tabs on the exploits of seven different agencies in cities across the country, including the St. Louis Fire Department. The real-time documentary reality series will have three film crews placed on two ambulances and one fire engine every Monday night of the show's initial eight-week run, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"Both EMS and fire do a phenomenal job of keeping the city safe every day," department spokesman Garon Mosby told the Post-Dispatch. "We think this is an opportunity to show the world how good they are." 

Less than two weeks after the youngest of America's military reserve components celebrated its birthday, now the oldest member of the family is preparing to observe its own anniversary.

On April 14, 2019, the United States Air Force Reserve turned 71 years young, and on April 23, the U.S. Army Reserve will celebrate 111 years of age. In addition to being the country's oldest reserve component, the USAR also holds the distinction of being the largest, with nearly 200,000 members.

With more than ten decades of existence to draw from, the U.S. Army Reserve has a rich historical tradition that is worth remembering and honoring as the nation celebrates its most recent anniversary.

Army Reservists crucial to US military operations since WWI

Though officially only 111 years old, the Army Reserve could legitimately trace its roots back as far the French and Indian War of the mid-1700s. Until the 19th century, America did not require a large standing army, and so relied heavily on the militias of individual states.

It was not until April 23, 1908, that Congress first created a Federal Reserve Force. As a response to mobilization and preparedness issues that the country had experienced during its wars of the 1800s, the United States created the first reserve force to exist under direct command and control of the federal government, known then as the Medical Reserve Corps.

A few years later, the "Preparedness Movement" led by former President Theodore Roosevelt would help secure passage of the National Defense Act of 1916, which created the Officer's Reserve Corps, the Enlisted Reserve Corps and Reserve Officers' Training Corps. When war was declared the following year, the ranks of the Officer Reserve Corps swelled dramatically.

In total, the Army mobilized nearly 90,000 Reserve officers during World War I, roughly a third of whom were medical doctors, which quadrupled the Army's capacity to care for the sick and wounded.

Following the Great War, Congress used the National Defense Act of 1920 to reorganize the U.S. land forces by authorizing a Regular Army, a National Guard and an Organized Reserve, which encompassed the Officers Reserve Corps and Enlisted Reserve Corps and provided a peacetime pool of trained Reserve officers and enlisted men.

This proved to be a wise decision when America was once again plunged into a global conflict. According to the USAR, roughly one quarter of all Army officers who served in World War II came from the Organized Reserve, and from 1943 to 1944, Reserve officers constituted over half of all officers killed in action.

Having further established their importance in WWII, the Organized Reserve was rewarded with retirement and drill pay for the first time in 1948. Two years later, Reservists were again called into action, with more than 240,000 Army Reserve Soldiers serving in active duty during the Korean War. It was also during that conflict that Congress officially changed the Organized Reserve Corps into the United States Army Reserve, and divided the new organization into a Ready Reserve, Standby Reserve and Retired Reserve.

According to Military.com, the USAR was only mobilized twice during the subsequent Cold War: from 1961-1962, when over 68,500 Army Reserve Soldiers responded to the Berlin Crisis, and from 1968-1969, when nearly 6,000 were called into action as part of the Vietnam War.

In recent years, though, the U.S. Army Reserve has become more essential than ever to our nation's military operations across the globe. Both the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard have been routinely called upon to serve both locally and globally, though primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since September 11, 2001, over 200,000 Army Reserve Soldiers have been activated in the Global War on Terrorism, outnumbering the number of Reservists in WWII.

Simply put, the nation cannot go to war without its Army Reserve Warrior Citizens, all of whom are owed a debt of gratitude as we celebrate the protection they have provided for well over a century. 

On April 14, 2019, the United States Air Force Reserve will turn 71 years young.

Last year, the Air Force Reserve held a cake-cutting ceremony at the Pentagon in honor of its 70th anniversary. Now that the military organization is turning 71, you may marvel at its advanced age, but it is actually the youngest of all the various reserve components. At 110 years old, the U.S. Army Reserve is the oldest of the bunch, followed by the 104-year-old Navy Reserve, the 102-year-old Marine Corps Reserve and the 78-year-old Coast Guard Reserve. Even the Air National Guard is one year younger than the Air Force Reserve.

Despite being the youngest sibling in the family of reserve corps, the Air Force Reserve has piled up an impressive number of accomplishments over its more than seven decades of history.

Over 70 years of distinguished service

Although the reserve component traces its lineage back over a century to the Reserve Airpower that was established by the National Defense Act of 1916, the official birth date of the U.S. Air Force Reserve is April 14, 1948. That's the date when the Army Air Corps Reserve was transferred to the Air Force, officially creating the Air Force Reserve as a separate component. The air reserve was formally established by President Harry Truman, who was seeking to create a program similar to one established during WWI, in which Reservists stood ready to serve during wartime.

The Air Force Reserve replaced Continental Air Command, which inactivated in 1968, at which point AFRES assumed command of all personnel, equipment and aircraft previously assigned to ConAC.

In 1970, Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird adopted the Total Force concept, which Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger declared policy in 1973. Once implemented, the Air Force Reserve became a multi-mission force, flying the same modern aircraft as the active Air Force and being held to the same readiness standards and inspections as regular Air Force units.

During the Cold War, Reservists continually volunteered for both military and humanitarian efforts, from the Israeli Airlift of 1973 to the resupply and evacuation missions undertaken in the aftermath of 1989's Hurricane Hugo.

Within days of Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Air Force Reserve airlift and tanker crews were in the air, with AFRES special operations and rescue forces and Air Force Reserve A-10s operating close to the frontlines. According to the Air Force Reserve Command, it was a Reservist who scored the first-ever A-10 air-to-air kill.

When the United States was attacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001, Air Force Reservists were quickly out in full force, with Air Force Reserve F-16 fighters flying combat air patrols over America's cities with KC-135 tanker and AWACs providing air refuelings and security.

In recent years, the Air Force Reserve has become an increasingly integral part of the Air Force's efforts to engage in combats and global operations.

Today there are nearly 70,000 Citizen Airmen stationed in communities throughout the United States and overseas, serving every Combatant Command in air, space, and cyberspace.

"From the sands of Iraq to the mountains of Afghanistan from the jungles of South America to the Antarctic icecap, in the skies above the nation, inside hurricanes threatening our coastal areas and through wildfires endangering our countryside, dedicated Reservists answer the call to duty symbolizing the values of integrity, service before self, and excellence in all we do," according to the Air Force Reserve's official mission statement.

In honor of its 71 years of service to the United States, Americans everywhere should take the opportunity on April 14 to salute the U.S. Air Force Reserve for providing Citizen Airmen prepared to "fly, fight and win."

The results of Super Bowl LIII, which saw the New England Patriots win their sixth title overall and their third in just the last five years, left some football fans overjoyed and others highly annoyed. But there was one group of patriots celebrated at this year's Super Bowl that everyone should be able to appreciate, regardless of their team loyalties.

During the big game, Verizon debuted another entry in its "The Team That Wouldn't Be Here" ad campaign, titled "The Coach That Wouldn't Be Here: Anthony Lynn." The 60-second spot, which reportedly cost over $10 million to air, features Los Angeles Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn speaking to a group of first responders and telling them the story of the time his own life was saved by police officers and paramedics who came to his aid after a "horrible" car accident.

In the video, Lynn describes how in 2005 he was struck by a car traveling at 50 mph. He credited the first responders who came to the scene of the accident with saving his life.

At one point, three of the first responders in the crowd identified themselves as the individuals who had first arrived at the scene of Lynn's accident, causing him to become visibly emotional. With tears in his eyes, Lynn embraced the first responders and thanked them for being his guardian angels.

Company also funding new public safety tech

According to Verizon, over 40 million people in America wouldn't be alive today if not for the efforts of a first responder.

To show its gratitude, the cell phone service provider pledged to support first responders in a variety of ways, including through the website AllOurThanks.com. Verizon asked users to visit the website, promising that for every share of the content, the company would donate $1, up to $1.5 million, to First Responders Outreach.

Verizon also offered a special discount available only to first responders, which included lower prices for one of its service plans, as well as a $100 prepaid card per new phone line for those who switched, bought or activated a new smartphone.

The most notable commitment, though, is Verizon's 5G First Responder Lab, a "first-of-its-kind innovation incubator" that will provide first responder technology companies with access to 5G technology they can use to develop, test and refine 5G solutions for public safety. On March 6, 2019, Verizon announced the five participating companies for the first cohort of the 5G First Responder Lab: Adcor Magnetic Systems, Aerial Applications, Blueforce Development, Kiana Analytics and Qwake Technologies.

"5G is transformative and will bring new possibilities in technology," said Nick Nilan, director of public sector product development for Verizon. "The companies chosen for the 5G First Responder Lab could bring unseen, potentially life-saving innovations to public safety."

Located in Verizon's 5G DC Lab at Alley in Washington DC, the 5G First Responder Lab will ultimately bring together a total of 15 innovators in three separate cohorts over the course of one year, with the goal of developing public safety solutions. Each three-month cohort will allow five first responder technology developers to have access to the lab and its 5G network to assist them in their mission. 

Every year on March 25, the United States of America observes National Medal of Honor Day, a time for remembering and honoring those who have earned the highest and most prestigious personal military decoration that may be awarded to U.S. military service members for acts of valor.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Medal of Honor is awarded to military members who have distinguished themselves "conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity" that went above and beyond the call of duty.

All five branches of the military are eligible for the honor, though there are only three versions of the medal: one each for the Army, Air Force and Navy, with personnel of the Marine Corps and Coast Guard able to receive the Navy version.

To understand the significance of the MOH, as well as the reasoning behind its annual holiday on March 25, it helps to educate yourself on the history of this incomparable honor.

Over 150 years of recognizing our nation's finest

Though there were several precursors to the MOH, including the George Washington's Badge of Military Merit and a Fidelity Medallion presented to three persons who helped capture a spy associated with Benedict Arnold in the 1700s, it was not until 1862 that the Navy Medal of Honor was created, quickly followed by the Army Medal of Honor, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. The Air Force did not design its own MOH until 1963, over a century later.

On April 11, 1862, a group of Union soldiers led by civilian spy James J. Andrews boarded the train General disguised as a group of new recruits traveling north from Georgia to join the Confederate army. During a breakfast stop, Andrews' Raiders uncoupled the passenger cars and took off with the General, traveling seventy miles on the Western and Atlantic Railway, along the way cutting telegraph wire, uprooting railroad tracks and setting bridges on fire, according to the National Archives.

The group was eventually captured and Andrews was executed by the Confederacy, along with seven of his fellow Raiders. Twelve remaining members of the group were taken prisoner, six of whom were exchanged within a year.

On March 25, 1863, those six exchanged soldiers were summoned to the secretary of war's office, where Edwin M. Stanton greeted them as heroes and surprised them with medallions.

"Congress has by a recent law ordered medals to be prepared… and your party shall have the first," Stanton said upon presenting the first ever Medals of Honor.

Then and now

In the 156 years since that initial ceremony, there have been more than 3,500 Medals of Honor awarded to America's bravest soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guardsmen. Among the thousands honored, there are currently 72 living recipients of the MOH. Ranging in age from 29 to 98, the list of living recipients includes four heroes who earned their Medals of Honor in World War II, five who fought in the Korean War, 50 in the Vietnam War, and 13 in the War in Afghanistan.

In 2016, Congress authorized the VA's National Cemetery Administration to issue, upon request, a medallion, headstone or marker signifying a Veteran as a recipient of the Medal of Honor. Two years later, during a private ceremony at West Grove Cemetery in Lexington, Mississippi, the first Medal of Honor Medallion was placed upon the private headstone of Pfc. Milton L. Olive III, a decorated war hero who fought in Vietnam.

"Private First Class Olive was posthumously awarded a Medal of Honor for his service during the Vietnam War after he heroically used his body to cover a grenade to save the lives of his fellow soldiers," said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. "The Medal of Honor Medallion illustrates VA's commitment to ensuring all who see this symbol will know of the courageous sacrifice of our nation's distinguished service members."

Each March 25 provides Americans the opportunity to reflect on the heroism of all Medal of Honor recipients, both living and dead. 

On Wednesday, March 13, patriots and dog lovers alike can join together in saluting our nation's four-legged heroes for National K9 Veterans Day.

This year's holiday will commemorate the 77th anniversary of dogs officially becoming a part of the U.S. Armed Forces. According to Military.com, it was on March 13, 1942, that the Army first began training for its new War Dog Program, known also as the "K-9 Corps."

The United States Postal Service is among those paying tribute, having recently announced a new booklet of 20 stamps that "honors the nation's brave and loyal military working dogs."

According to the USPS, each block of four stamps features one stamp each of the four breeds chosen for inclusion in the booklet: German shepherd, Labrador retriever, Belgian Malinois and Dutch shepherd.

The patriotic stamps were designed by art director Greg Breeding, and created by the Los Angeles-based DKNG Studios. The stylized digital images feature red, white, blue and gold coloring, along with illustrations of dogs wearing tactical service vests. In the background of each stamp is the detail of a white star. A full white star on a gold background also appears on the center of each block.

Though an official release date for the military dog stamps has not yet been revealed, the Postal Service did promise that more details on dates and locations for the first-day-of-issue ceremonies would be forthcoming.

A distinguished breed of service

Though the K-9 Corps dates back to WWII, military dogs have been serving in the U.S. military since World War I. The most famous canine veteran of the Great War was a Staffordshire terrier mix named Stubby, who saved many sleeping soldiers by barking and waking them during a German mustard gas attack. According to History.com, Stubby went on to serve in 17 battles and survive at least two major injuries, including shrapnel in his chest and leg, before becoming the first dog to be given the rank of Sergeant in the U.S. Armed Forces.

When Sergeant Stubby died in his sleep at the age of 10 in 1926, his remains were gifted to the Smithsonian Institution where they continue to be displayed today.

Examples of canine heroism can be found in more recent conflicts, as well. Just this past November, an Army Ranger dog named Maiko was killed in action during a skirmish in Afghanistan, according to Stars and Stripes. The 7-year-old military working dog was leading Rangers into a compound when he was fired upon by a militant, revealing the militant's position and saving the lives of other soldiers, who then targeted that position.

There is a memorial in Holmdel, New Jersey, that recognizes such sacrifices. Although the War Dog Memorial was originally built to remember only those dogs that served in Vietnam, it now honors all dogs that have served in the United States military.

Today an estimated 2,300 military working dogs serve on U.S. bases worldwide, performing dangerous tasks alongside their human counterparts. These canine warriors often use their noses and smaller sizes to engage in search and rescue missions that more traditional service members are less equipped to complete.

"These military dogs, and search-and-rescue dogs, are putting themselves on the line. They're out in the front lines," Diane Whetsel, head of the Sage Foundation that works to help fund medical services for military dogs, told CNN.

While it may be true that "all dogs go to heaven," surely a special place there is reserved for all of the pups that we remember and pay tribute to on National K9 Veterans Day.

Coming straight on the heels of the United States Coast Guard Reserve's 78th birthday on Feb. 19, the U.S. Navy Reserve will celebrate its 104th anniversary on Sunday, March 3, 2019.

Created at the outset of the first World War and active in every major war the U.S. has fought since, the Navy Reserve has been "Ready Now, Anytime, Anywhere" for over a century.

More than 100 years of service

Reservists have been important to America ever since the days of the Revolutionary War, when in 1775 the first citizens took to the sea to fight the British, even before the Continental Congress had created the Continental Navy.

Yet the present institution was not officially formed until March 3, 1915, when legislation was passed to create what was then known as the Naval Reserve Force.

The Reserve resulted from the efforts of Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels and his assistant, a young Franklin D. Roosevelt, who lobbied Congress for funding after the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Once the United States entered the war in 1917, American reservists served in the cockpits of biplanes and hunted down German U-boats.

Despite the dire financial situation the U.S. found itself in during the Great Depression, the Naval Reserve managed to find funding and actually expand with the creation of the Naval Aviation Cadet program and the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps. This put the Reserve in a strong position once World War II broke out in 1939, and by 1941 nearly all of its members were serving on active duty. Later that year, it was reservists who fired the first U.S. shots of the second World War, when sailors from Minnesota serving aboard the USS Ward sunk a Japanese mini-submarine outside the entrance to Pearl Harbor.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor and America's entrance into the war, the Navy swelled from a force of 383,150 to one of more than 3.4 million. The vast majority of them were reservists, five of whom would go on to serve as U.S. presidents: John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush. Jimmy Carter also served in the Reserve before becoming Commander in Chief, though he did so after the conclusion of WWII.

The Cold War that followed sent naval reservists to Korea and Vietnam, and the organization expanded once more during the defense build-up of the 1980s. In the next decade, over 21,000 reservists supported Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

Recognizing the work of today's reservists

In 2005, the Naval Reserve changed to the Navy Reserve.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, there have been more than 70,000 mobilizations of Selected Reservists, and over 4,500 deployments by reservists serving on Full-Time Support. Today there are over 100,000 reservists serving as either the Selected Reserve (SELRES) or Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) Sailors, amplifying the Navy's core capabilities, such as forward presence, deterrence, sea control, humanitarian assistance and disaster response.

According to Military.com, on any particular day, a full quarter of the Navy Reserve is hard at work delivering global operational support to our fleet and combat forces.

On Sunday, March 3, Americans should heed the words of Admiral William J. Fallon, who once urged the nation to "remember that the Reserves, which represent twenty percent of our warfighting force, are absolutely vital to our Navy's ability to fight and win wars now and in the future."

Black History Month can trace its origins back 50 years, to when black educators at Kent State University first proposed the idea in February 1969. The following year, the public research college in Northeastern Ohio observed the first Black History Month, which since then has expanded across the United States, as well as to Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and  Ireland.

While African Americans have made countless positive contributions to our country's cultural, economic and political fabric, their service in our nation's armed forces deserves special recognition. From the 5,000 black soldiers who fought during the Revolutionary War to the Tuskegee Airmen who piloted bombers in WWII, African Americans have been serving the United States since it's inception, even at times when the U.S. failed to serve them.

And of the many pioneering black servicemen and women worthy of praise, special attention should be given to Lillian E. Fishburne, who in 1998 became the first African-American woman to hold the rank of Rear Admiral in the United States Navy.

The life and career of Rear Adm. Fishburne

Lillian Elaine Fishburne was born into a naval family in Patuxent River, Maryland, on March 25, 1949–just one year after the integration of minorities and women in the military.

Fishburne was raised in Rockville, Maryland, by an active-duty father who never doubted his daughter's military ambitions. After obtaining a Bachelor's degree in Sociology from Lincoln University in 1971, she spent two years at the Women Officers School at Newport, Rhode Island, becoming an ensign after graduating in February 1973.

According to Black Past, Fishburne's first naval assignment was serving as a personnel and legal officer at the Naval Air Test Facility in Lakehurst, New Jersey. She went on to act as an Officer Programs recruiter in Miami, then as the officer in charge of the Naval Telecommunications Center at the Great Lakes, Illinois Naval Base.

Fishburne then went back to school for another two years, earning her Master of Arts in Management from Webster College in St. Louis, Missouri. She spent the next two years at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, graduating with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Systems Management in 1982.

Thanks to appointments to positions such as executive officer at the Naval Communications Command in Yokosuka, Japan, and special projects officer for the Navy's Command, Control, and Communications Directorate, Fishburne was eventually selected for the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

After becoming Chief of the Command and Control Systems Support Division in Washington, D.C., and commanding the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station, Eastern Pacific, in Hawaii, Fishburne made history by attaining the rank of Rear Admiral on Feb. 1, 1998, and was promoted by President Bill Clinton.

A legacy of heroism

Fishburne retired in February 2001, with a long list of decorations that included the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, two Meritorious Service Medals, two Navy Commendation Medals, and the Navy Achievement Medal.

During a 1998 ceremony to honor Fishburne, along with other military members, Secretary of Defense William Cohen delivered a speech in which he quoted novelist and retired Air Force Maj. Albert Murray as saying, "Heroism… is measured in terms of the stress and strain it can endure, and the magnitude and complexity of the obstacles that it overcomes… which bring out the best in [heroes]."

"Considering the stresses and strains endured by African-Americans in the defense of our country, it's little wonder that we have so many heroes among us," Secretary Cohen added, according to Military.com.

Retired Rear Admiral Lillian E. Fishburne is just one of the many heroes that all Americans should reflect upon and honor during Black History Month.

First responders put their lives on the line, rushing into dangerous fires, accidents, emergencies and natural disasters before anyone else.

Yet the immense physical risks involved in being a first responder are in many cases less severe than the danger of psychological scarring.

An alarming report commissioned by the Ruderman Family Foundation recently revealed that first responders are more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty, according to WGN.

The study found that the mental health effects of experiencing or witnessing trauma, grisly accidents, shootings and more has led to a rate of PTSD and depression for police and firefighters that is five times higher than the civilian population.

It's a disturbing national trend, and one that will be difficult to eradicate, but at least one state is seeking a legislative cure for the problem.

West Virginia legislators trying to provide workers comp to first responders with PTSD

Lawmakers in West Virginia are pushing to pass a bill that would make first responders suffering from PTSD eligible for workers compensation.

The issue is sadly relevant to Bob Coleman, a retired firefighter who lost his son, Chris, to suicide last year. At the time of Chris' death, he was following in his father's footsteps as a first responder with the Huntington Fire Department.

"We hope that no other family has to go what we went through," Coleman told WOWK. "A physical injury is compensatable but a mental injury should be, too. Us first responders…. firefighter, EMS, police… we see things that we can't unsee."

That sentiment was echoed by Ceredo Fire Chief Dave Caudill, who spoke with WVAH about the stressful situations first responders deal with constantly, and the corresponding mental toll.

"Everybody can't do first responder work because you see a lot of stuff that really you shouldn't have to see," Caudill told the local news outlet. "I've actually seen situations over the years where you have somebody who's never really dealt with that before get into that situation and… that's the end of their career."

Such occurrences could be higher than the average person might suspect: A study conducted by the University of Phoenix found that 85 percent of all first responders deal with some sort of mental illness at some point during their career.

Bills introduced in both House and Senate

The effort to better care for the mental wellbeing of first responders appears to have the support of many local lawmakers, as legislators in both the House and the Senate have introduced bills that would provide worker compensation to first responders diagnosed with PTSD.

"This is a life or death issue," Cabell County Delegate Chad Lovejoy, who sponsored the House's version of the bill, told WOWK. "We have men and women whose lives are being taken, sometimes at their own hands, sometimes by coping mechanics. This is not a small undertaking, but this could really save some lives."

According to the language of the legislation, a first responder would need to be diagnosed with PTSD by a licensed psychiatrist, and the traumatic incident must have occurred on the job.

Although a similar bill was unsuccessfully introduced last session, Lovejoy remains optimistic that this new attempt will have a different result.

"More people have come on board," Lovejoy said. "I think we have seen the trend here and more people recognize how big of a problem this actually is."