Ed. Note: Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Defense announced another nine American soldiers died in Iraq yesterday. Here's a short story about one who I hope is still alive.

 

The Hartford Police Department admits that it lacks sufficient officers to patrol city streets ruled by gang violence and teen gun battles.

 

Now, here comes George W. Bush to make things worse by stealing four of our officers to patrol the insurgent streets of Iraq for 18 months.

 

Bush's war of choice has called two Connecticut Army National Guard companies to duty. One of them, the 1048th Medium Truck Company, will escort military convoys across the desert with the 82nd Airborne Division.

 

The 1048th counts Asylum Hill Community Officer Jim Barrett and three other of Hartford's finest among its ranks. The 1048th also contains officers from police departments of surrounding towns, according to Barrett.

 

Governor M. Jodi Rell, for all her bickering with Mayor Eddie Perez about state police support for beleaguered city law enforcement, will send these two Connecticut companies off to hell with a celebration at the state house on June 25.

 

Can't wrap your noggin around it? Neither can I. We live in times of collective insanity.

 

Barrett registered for the Army National Guard as a 17-year-old junior at South Windsor High School in 1989.

 

He wanted to jump out of planes and blow things up, but he also wanted a free education.
"I knew what I was getting into," Barrett said.

 

Barrett graduated from Eastern Connecticut State University in 1994 with a degree in sociology and criminal justice.

 

Uncle Sam called on him once before. Barrett went to the Balkans in August 2001 for eight months to provide security for a military intelligence unit searching for evidence of war crimes.

 

When he returned from the Balkans in 2002, Barrett's original eight-year commitment to the Guard ended. But he re-upped because of his fierce loyalty to his troops.

 

"I wanted to make sure the soldiers I had been working with were alright," Barrett said.

 

And he's going to Iraq to make sure his guys are safe.

 

"If my unit wasn't called up, I wouldn't go," he said. "But since my unit was called up, I'm going."

 

When he returned from the Balkans, he left his job as a prison guard at the Department of Corrections and joined HPD.

 

"I could make more of a difference at HPD," he said. "At Corrections, you're too late. In Hartford, there is more of an opportunity to prevent crime before it happens, before they go behind the wall."

 

Two years ago, he became our CSO. Back in March, secretary of war Donald Rumsfeld called up the 1048th. My ex-girlfriend heard of Barrett's impending departure while talking to a cop at her job in Manchester before I ever learned of it in Hartford.

 

"We knew it was coming," Barrett said. "We couldn't get out because of stop-loss."

 

Stop-loss orders issued years ago by Rumsfeld prevent soldiers from departing the military. It's a de-facto draft.

 

"They had to do it," Barrett said. "Otherwise there would be no armed forces. No one is entering the forces, everyone is leaving because of the war, because of fear."

 

But Barrett said he is not afraid. Cops face death daily, but war seems different. I admire his courage, and the merchants and residents from Farmington to Garden await his return.

 

Leaving the bonds he had with the people and the businesses in Asylum Hill will be the most difficult part, Barrett said. His last day on the job is June 7, and to HPD's credit, Barrett is training Officer Jeff Morrison as Asylum Hill's new CSO.

 

Morrison will even assume Barrett's old cell phone number.

 

As CSO, Barrett said the most rewarding moments were when people said "Thank you." So Jim, here's a giant "Gracias" from a grateful Laurel Street resident. I'm sad to see you go, and hope you come back.

 

Hartford needs you.