Reuter recalls career in new book

A former Indiana State Police trooper who was director of the Bartholomew County 911 Emergency Operations Center for a decade has written a book about his 33-year law enforcement career.

Ed Reuter, who brought the emergency alert Everbridge System to Bartholomew County and also text-to-911 services, has his new book “A Scar on Every Road,” now available. Reuter, 70, retired after closing out his career as executive director of the Indiana Statewide 911 Board.

The book recalls the time he spent at Indiana State Police Post 43 in Seymour, which closed in 2010 as part of a statewide consolidation of ISP districts.

Reuter said his original purpose in writing the book was to give his story to his family. The author also said that since he doesn’t want to dredge up painful memories for survivors, he seldom gives names while discussing individual cases in the book.

Now available through Amazon.com, “A Scar on Every Road” has a theme of balancing faith, family and career, Reuter said.

As he worked on the book, some of the memories recovered through notes, letters and newspaper clippings were stressful, he said.

“After patrolling thousands of miles as an Indiana State trooper, there are specific roadway locations that take me back to times I wish I could forget,” Reuter wrote. “I still have vivid memories and, occasionally, unsettling images of the moments I have lived.”

The author’s long-time friend, Pastor Dennis Aud of the Westside Community Church, heard Reuter express those thoughts and feelings, and decided it should be shared with his congregation.

“If you ever rode in a car with Ed Reuter in this county, he could tell you a story about ‘a scar on every road’ where he worked accidents or some other kind of incident,” Aud said. And that’s how the book got its title.

One of the most heartbreaking remembrances involves his father, ISP Trooper Louis T. Reuter, Sr. In the book’s first chapter, Ed Reuter called his father his role model, and wrote about his desire to follow in his footsteps.

But Louis Reuter tried to convince young Ed to forget law enforcement and pursue another career, according to the book.

“He knew how the strains of this profession would impact my family,” Reuter wrote. “Even though (my father) was proud to serve, he witnessed many unimaginable events over his career.”

One such event was the Dec. 13, 1977 aircraft crash that killed the University of Evansville basketball team two minutes after takeoff from Evansville’s airport. Reuter said his father would “carry this horrible baggage with him for the rest of his life.”

After his wife suffered a stroke, Louis Reuter chose to take his own life on Feb. 18, 2002.

“The questions flooded my mind, and nobody had the answers,” Ed Reuter wrote. “My head was spinning. How could I have worked on so many suicide cases, read so many suicide notes, and talked to so many surviving family members to not pick up on clues about my own father’s suicide?”

Ed Reuter also experienced tragic events in his own life, including:

• He lost a friend in the 1977 Evansville plane crash.
• One of his men, Sgt. Bob Hedger, nearly died during a 1997 crash of an ISP helicopter in Seymour.
• A popular co-worker, Trooper Gregg Gerometta of Columbus, died unexpectedly of cancer in April 1996.
• A feeling of helplessness in trying to help Trooper Roger Drew, who fell into depression after being unable to save a family of four in a 1991 accident.

One of the most heartbreaking experiences of his professional career was the September 1998 discovery of a mother and three young children in shallow graves northeast of Waynesville. Reuter writes the images of the four victims “have forever left all of us with an unforgettable deep scar in our memories.”

Reuter said the path of keeping emotions in check and always being strong can have unintended consequences.

“For officers dealing with tragedies daily, the biggest fear is allowing oneself to fall into the ‘John Wayne Syndrome’ by hiding one’s feelings and emotions,” he wrote. “They isolate themselves from people outside the law enforcement community.”

In contrast to the tragedies, he said he takes great joy in socializing with neighbors and others not in law enforcement. Building these relationships has not only been good for him mentally, but they have also brought tips from the public that resulted in removing bad guys from the streets, he said.

Finding balance also means focusing on the positives at work, he said. ISP was instrumental in gathering enough evidence to convict Robert Bassett, Jr. for the four homicides. Hedger made a full recovery after the helicopter crash, and Drew was commended four years after the quadruple fatality for pulling two people out of a fiery crash.

While nothing could bring back Gregg Gerometta, Reuter was touched by how several troopers handed over their per diem checks to the trooper’s widow and two children. The sizable checks covered expenses incurred during a three-month assignment in Gary.

He was told by his wife that he and his troopers talk too often about their “war stories” from work. The mood changed for the better with officers started to share humorous anecdotes, and there are plenty of chuckles from his own career.

For example, there was the time his .357 service revolver popped out of his holster in a parking lot and slid under another vehicle while trying to respond to a serious call. (“I felt like this was ‘The Andy Griffith Show’, and I was Barney”).

In another true story, he was conducting an investigation inside a dark house when he turned a corner and suddenly encountered an unearthly face, coupled with a blood-curdling scream.

His hand was on his pistol’s grip … until he realized he was face-to-face with a TV screen displaying horror show host Sammy Terry. (“A chill still runs down my spine thinking about Sammy Terry’s face.”)

Other activities that helped his life balance ranged from coaching sports to taking dance lessons, he said.

But some things are more important than others. For Reuter, that includes the Christian faith instilled in him by his paternal grandmother and strengthened today by Pastor Aud.

For several years, Reuter didn’t talk to those he did not know well about the importance of faith in his life.

But just days after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Reuter was invited by then-Seymour mayor John Burkhart to speak on the steps of Seymour City Hall. He was asked to join others in providing comforting words during unprecedented times.

After hearing other dignitaries speak, Reuter realized there wasn’t anything else he could add. But then, an idea came to his mind. He reached into the back seat of his patrol car and pulled out a Bible.

Reuter was nervous and afraid what he was about to do might be considered inappropriate. Nevertheless, the ISP post commander read scripture that included:

Psalm 91: 7 – “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.”

Psalm 91: 10-11 – “No harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.”

Not only was the reading considered appropriate, but Reuter’s superior seemed quite moved, as well as a little surprised, by the Biblical passage, according to the book.

“I think people feel the presence of your faith in you,” Reuter said.

Of course, the greatest source of joy and balance in his life is his wife, Lisa; daughters Melissa and Michelle; and grandchildren Dillon, Aaron and Gabby.

Near the end of the book, Lisa Reuter wrote about attending her husband’s retirement party in Indianapolis, and how the entire family felt a sense of pride that day.

“Our 9-year-old granddaughter listened to the accolades from the people in the room,” Lisa wrote. “She said it best. ‘He must have been really good at his job’.”

Reuter received several honors and accolades, including the Sagamore of the Wabash and the title of Kentucky Colonel.