Worthy of the uniform.(The Goodness Of America)

Richard Reimer, of Van Nuys, California, has been a letter carrier for 32 years. The Air Force veteran was a security specialist in Vietnam. He and wife Nancy have two young children.

On May 2, 2002, Reimer had just finished his route and was driving home when he saw a pair of shoes in the street and slowed to avoid running over them. He then heard an elderly woman calling, "Mailman, mailman," and assumed that she wanted to give him a letter or purchase some stamps. But after Reimer pulled to the curb, the woman pointed up the street and yelled, "Get him! He just stole my purse!" It turned out that the shoes in the street were hers. The thief had literally knocked her out of them.

Reimer saw the suspect, on foot, about two blocks away. Giving chase in his vehicle, he saw the man turn a comer. When Reimer made the same turn, he realized that the culprit and an accomplice in a waiting getaway car were boxed in. They could not drive away without first backing up.

Reimer jumped from his vehicle and yelled, "Fire!" to attract the attention of others. Two bystanders ran to help, grabbing one miscreant while Reimer subdued the other. The thug held by the two bystanders was, however, able to punch his way free and run. Reimer hopped back into his vehicle and followed, but he lost visual contact after the man jumped a fence and ran toward a busy thoroughfare.

Reimer then returned to the scene of the initial confrontation, where, by that time, the ...