I was sickened to hear the news of a shooting at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum that left Stephen T. Johns dead after a man, full of the same hatred was behind the Holocaust, stormed in and started spraying bullets. I’m not going to discuss the murderer, as you have probably read or heard quite a bit about him on the news. He doesn’t deserve the attention that I’ve given him already.
Officer Johns died at the post he had served on for six years, as one of the guards entrusted to protect the lives and the contents of one of the most emotionally charged museum that I have ever visited. I have seen grown men weep while looking at artifacts left behind by those who died due to hatred. I cannot even articulate the emotions I felt while walking through the different exhibits. I can only say that if you have not visited the museum, please do the next time you visit our Nation’s Capital.
I will not allow the events of today to deter me from visiting the museum again. In fact I plan on visiting it before the summer is out and it was not on my list as a place to revisit for a while. The events of today caused me to do something else as well. I made a donation, albeit a small one, to the museum in memory of Officer Stephen T. Johns. He gave his life for the museum. The least I can do is give a few bucks in his name. For more information on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, click on this link.
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Stephen T. Johns, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Thank you for this post – I felt so bad for this man’s family.
Thank you very much for this as well, I think you have the right idea to commemorate Stephen, and you inspired me to make a donation as well.
Instead of donating to the USHMM in his name, consider that he has an 11 year old son and a widow who will now only have the meager income of a Federal life insurance policy based on the salary of a police officer.
What we need to do is create a fund in honor of his actions funding his son’s education and his widow’s life.
This was such a waste of life…..hate never makes anything okay or right….EVER!
Concerned Fed,
You do make a good point that a fund should be set up for his widow and son. Please keep in mind that when I wrote this posting, there wasn’t any information about his family and I wanted to counteract the purpose behind the actions of the individual who took his life by making a donation to the USHMM.
This man is a hero, and I hope they do set up a fund for his son and widow.