"My experiences have taught me that the majority of people are fine human beings, kind, generous and humble."

I am the oldest son of six siblings. My parents raised us to be responsible for ourselves and others. We never doubted that we were first and foremost in their thoughts. They were the finest examples of kindness, generosity and love. Their life together has taught me so much about loyalty, sacrifice, compassion and courage. They always had time for others, while never neglecting us. They encouraged us to learn, not only from books, but from personal experience. (This caused them quite a bit of trouble as my siblings and I had to also learn that there were limits and boundaries to what a young man or woman should experience.)

A lot of the values that Charlie holds today were reinforced by the Marines.

My father was my example, but my mother was my teacher. She always encouraged, even when disciplining, “What kind of example is this for your little brothers and sisters?” “You’re better than that.” “Will your family and friends be proud of you?” She taught me that good and evil come in many guises and not to be fooled by stereotypes. Form your own opinions and try to figure out why certain things happen in a certain way. Understand that when people fail once, twice or even more, it should not take away from all the good things they do. We are all fallible. No matter how successful someone looks, all families have their trials and tribulations, so don’t complain. And my favorite bit of wisdom passed down from my grandmother through my mom, “If you could trade your burdens with anyone in the world, and everyone in world threw all their troubles on a table and you could choose anyone of them, you would pick up your own and thank God you did not have any of the others.”

Growing up, my grandparents lived across the street from the elementary school I attended, so we would go to their house for lunch every day (no cafeterias in those days). Grandpa would be sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper while grandma placed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before my sister and I (later more siblings would join this ritual). Grandma would ask about our day and what was happening in our lives. When we finished eating, my grandfather would put the paper down, smile, and bring out the checkerboard. He explained the rules and strategy of the game and then we would play. This was the beginning of my life lessons from my grandfather which has held me in good stead, even saved my life several times. "Think ahead, Charlie," he would say as he sprang the trap he had patiently set for me and I would lose more checkers. "Think ahead. Be prepared."

As I became a young man and wanted to stretch my limits, like most adolescents, I would seek my grandfather's counsel. Usually it was over something that wasn't terribly responsible and my parents would ground me if they even knew I was thinking of some the things I discussed with Grandpa. Grandpa would listen while I extolled the reasons that I should be allowed to do this or to try that. As I completed each argument, and asked Grandpa what he thought, he would nod while asking me, "Sounds like it would be fun, but is it right?" I would try to deflect the answer with more arguments that the responsibility would be mine alone. He would nod again and answer, "But we don't live alone, do we? We have family, neighbors, people we have never met that will be affected by your actions. Is it right?" My grandfather taught me to never tolerate a liar or a thief. When you make a mistake, face it, try to make it right, but always learn from it. If you make the same mistake again, the second one was not a mistake, it was intentional. Men could be forced to do many things through greed, fear, or even torture. But one thing you could never do was force someone to give up their integrity. That was something they had to do voluntarily. I did not always take his counsel to heart. Some things must be learned the hard way. I’ve worked hard not to make the same mistake twice.

The New York State Troopers motto of
“Excellence through Knowledge” is still practiced by Charlie every day.

These values and lessons were reinforced during my time in the United States Marine Corps where the motto, “Semper Fidelis” (Always Faithful), are not just words, but a credo to live by.

Marine Corps tradition and “Corps” values of honor, integrity, and commitment reinforced the values that had been ingrained in me by my family. I met, lived, worked, and fought with men and women from all walks of life and learned that we have more in common with each other than we have differences.

The New York State Police is another organization that I was privileged to serve with.

Their motto of “Excellence through Knowledge” is put into practice every day. We were immediately informed of changes in the law, or of new investigative and forensic techniques that were available. We returned to the State Police Academy at least every two years for intensive training to keep us up to date with constitutional law and the evolving nature of police work in our communities.

I loved the symbolism of the New York State Trooper’s uniform: the Stetson to honor our origin as a mounted, horseback patrol; the purple ribbon on the Stetson and purple tie honor the first organized police force, the Praetorian Guard of ancient Rome who were identified by a purple stripe on their toga; the black stripe on our trousers to acknowledge all our members have fallen in the line of duty, and the grey uniform symbolizing impartiality, never seeing things in strictly black or white, but a little bit of both. I took all these things to heart. They became part of what I am, not what I did.

My experiences have taught me that the majority of people are fine human beings, kind, generous and humble. A few are miscreants who put themselves above all others. Others are truly evil. Each should be dealt with in a different way. Most people understand when they have made an error. They take responsibility and need minimal interaction with law enforcement or our court system. When someone makes a mistake from youth or ignorance, we must make them accountable and responsible for their actions in order for them to avoid going down a path that will lead to more trouble for themselves and our society. If they choose to join the few who refuse to learn the lessons of good citizenship we must take firmer measures to avoid the rest of our community from suffering. When people choose to ignore the common good, our community suffers. When people choose self gratification before what is right, our community suffers. Good men and women must take a stand for what is right in order for our community to remain healthy. This can all be accomplished through service to others before service to self. This is what I worked for my entire adult life. This is what I stand for.