Dear Editor,

There are about 4,700 Pennsylvania state troopers and I know about six of them.Nearly 12.7 million people live in our commonwealth, so that is one trooper for every 2,700 residents. How many of them do you know?Cpl. Bryon Dickson, I did not know you, never shook your hand and never said thank you. You didn't know me, either.You put on an immaculate uniform, made sure your shoes were tied, cleaned and polished, your firearm was in working order, your hair was cut to specs and you went to work for me.Maybe you scared me when I was zipping along Interstate 84 last summer, but you let me get away with it ... thanks. Thank you for doing your job, for being at work on time, for doing the right thing, for doing what the rest of us care not to do, for leaving your family every day, not knowing what the day would bring. Thank you for that safe, secure feeling I get when a cruiser goes by, for getting that drunken driver off the road, even though the rest of us got mad for having to sit in a DUI checkpoint. Thank you for all of your studying for promotion, for improving yourself to better serve me, for your caring, your dedication, your time serving me. Thank you for your supreme sacrifice, for the sacrifice of your family and for your brothers and sisters that served with youI never met you, Bryon, and I never got to say thank you.Francis Dietrich Nicholson