GRAYSON —
By way of each duty David W. Hobbs Jr. does his part. It’s personal for the Kentucky State Police trooper.
Brought up on a Beattyville bluff, family feuds were hot-blooded, habitually tacked with a liquor reek. Dinnertime was up in the air. Although sad recollections of his alcohol- and drug-addicted parents loiter, the 24-year-old sweeps skeletons from the cupboard, sharing his story as he begins a drizzly Carter County evening shift.
“Seems like I only remember bad things. It was hard. I experienced so much,” he lets loose, adding his dad committed suicide when he was 13. Contending with his mother’s addiction and deterioration, he was on his own with little support. He relied on state troopers to get by.
“Troopers took care of us. They were the ones making a difference for me. When times were bad and that gray car pulled in, he was my hero,” Hobbs said. It’s why he chose this KSP career. He isn’t snowed under by miserable memories. “Anything I can do to prevent a kid from living like I did — I will,” he said. “One mission for me in the state police is to influence kids, teenagers, and anyone to stay away from drugs.”
Keep a nonstop course over the snaking hollow bends — just like Hobbs.
“Set extremely high goals and don’t let anyone or anything stop you from reaching those goals,” he tells teens. He assists Olive Hill police officers arresting a man. A sack of fast food sits in the suspect’s car — bound for two children waiting at home. Concerned the youngsters shall go to bed hungry, Hobbs delivers dinner to the house. The little ones hug him — but grasp their father figure isn’t coming home tonight. This stirs up thoughts of youth.
Hobbs knows life is austere. He worked three jobs in college to gain necessary credits to be a trooper. In the Academy he found family he yearned for. There are six young units patrolling rural Carter County — all devoted brothers united through the same KSP class. He listens to an ally on the radio and drives to him, sensing stress in voice.
“Anything can happen. I hope and pray all of us make it back home, back to our families,” he said. “Being a Trooper is not a task, nor job; it’s a way of life. Troopers take care of business when it needs to be, and we go anyplace at anytime, night or day. Doesn’t matter what call we go to. I feel we’re prepared to take care of anything and everything put in front of us. That’s what we do.”
He’s realizing a lifelong dream. “I always loved and always will love and respect the gray uniform. …We live the color gray. It’s awesome and I wouldn’t change it for anything. But families live it with you.”
Hobbs answers back with a courteous, “Yes, ma’am,” speaking of his newlywed bride and her pledge of steadfastness as he squares away for work. It’s almost Valentines Day — and she stayed up all night to welcome him home safely. It’s a mark of a good state trooper wife. She can’t rest easy until he walks in the front door a little after 4 a.m. She’s a portrait of inspiration, motivation, and power of endurance, waiting patiently for phone calls he’s too busy to return.
“She’s always there for me. I can’t put into words how grateful I am she’s in my life. She made my life a blessing,” he beams in the flash of blue lights, and then graciously asks if he might freely share a one-on-one, public love note. He talks to her: “Thank you for being there for me when I needed you the most,” Hobbs said, settling in for a long night, soldiering onto Soldier.
Local News
Trooper learns from childhood struggles
- Local News
-
-
West Virginia man arrested for bank robbery
A West Virginia man has been arrested and charged with the robbery at the PNC Bank here on Tuesday afternoon.
- Secretary of Education coming to Louisville
-
New laws go into effect next week
New laws approved during the Kentucky General Assembly’s 2013 regular session go into effect on Tuesday.
-
Local in brief: 6/19/13
Southland Bible Institute’s training for high school students continues through Friday at the school at 238 W. Southland Drive.
-
Saturday's Flatwoods Music Festival will include tributes to Mike Murphy
The songs of Mike Murphy and Zachariah will be remembered and performed Saturday amid an afternoon and evening of free music at the annual Flatwoods Music Festival.
-
Local WinShape camp gaining steam
The WinShape Camps for Communities at Bridges Christian Church the first week of July are starting to draw considerable buzz.
-
Camp Invention full of science-based discovery
The formula for inventing a new machine, according to 9-year-old Hayden Wheeler, goes something like this: “First, I run it through my mind and plan it out, and then I make adjustments in my mind, and then I try it out.”
-
Boyd staying with same health plan
Boyd County officials heard pitches Tuesday for two new health care plans — one for employees, the other for inmates. Both claimed they could save taxpayers thousands of dollars in medical expenses over the coming year.
-
Sentencing in Carter drug trafficking case
Five people were sentenced to prison terms last week in a federal drug-trafficking case that involved selling cocaine and pills in Carter County, according to court documents.
-
19-year-old launching one-man food drive, ‘Cans for a Cause’
Never accuse Aaron Hannah of not being ambitious and failing to set high goals for himself.
Later this month, Hannah, a 19-year-old 2012 graduate of Raceland-Worthington High School, will launch what is essentially a one-man food drive. His goal: to collect at least 10,000 pounds of canned food for River Cities Harvest to distribute to local nonprofits and churches that help feed the hungry.
Hannah, who just completed his freshman year as a Bonner Scholar at Berea College, said scholars are encouraged, but not required, to do community projects designed to help the needy. - More Local News Headlines
-
West Virginia man arrested for bank robbery
Hunt for Ex-Teamster Boss Hoffa's Remains Ends
Aug. Trial Set for Ohio Man in Triple Kidnapping
Car Crash in NYC's East Village Injures 8
Obama Renews Call for Nuclear Reductions
Raw: Car Jumps Curb in NYC, Injures 8
Obama: 'Lives Have Been Saved' by NSA Programs
Obama: Friction in Afghan Talks No Surprise
Unusual Heat Wave Bakes Alaska
Raw: Massive Protests Fill Brazilian Streets
Raw: German President Welcomes President Obama
Fans Cheer Dramatic Heat Comeback
Raw: Arizona Wildfire Scorches 8 Square Miles
Raw: 1 Dead in Shooting at Mo. Apartment Complex
Raw: Huge Fire Near Yosemite National Park
3 Charged in Ohio With Enslaving Mom, Daughter
Kid Couture: Spending Big Bucks on Babies
