Galway, Ireland, and Bemidji are separated by some 3,568 miles and that little body of water, the Atlantic Ocean.

All because of Karmen Clark, a sophomore at Bemidji State University.

You see, Clark sent the Pioneer a Letter to the Editor thanking emergency personnel everywhere for what they do for our communities.

“You are more than just an ‘Ambulance Driver,’ a ‘Paramedic,’ an ‘EMT,’ or a ‘First Responder’— you see, you are more than an ‘everyday’ hero; You are the angels sent to help heal the wounded and tend to the sick. You are the difference between life and death,” part of Clarke’s letter read.

We published the letter in Wednesday’s paper and posted it to our website that afternoon, as well as sending it out via social media on Facebook and Twitter.

Then the emails starting coming. And the phone calls, too.

From Bemidji and the surrounding area to be sure, but also from Newark, N.J., to Ottawa, Canada, all the way to Galway. People wanted to thank Clark for the letter, and wanted to know how to contact her. And could they share her letter with others, with their hometown newspapers, newsletters and emergency personnel friends.

“I am a paramedic in Ireland, with over 20 years involvement in providing pre-hospital care,” wrote Tomas Connaughton of Galway, Ireland, in an email to the Pioneer early Thursday morning. “I’m off today and sitting with my 3-year-old son, who is checking why his dad is crying. I’ve just read your contributor’s open letter to emergency personnel and found it to be extremely touching, I am also involved both in training volunteer and full-time paramedics and EMTs. I wonder would (it) be possible to share that letter with those staff, during their initial training, or while doing some of their continuous development training. (To) the author, can I express my appreciation for her very kind and thoughtful words.”

As of this writing Friday afternoon, Clark’s letter had been shared via Facebook more than 15,000 times. It’s been the top-read story on the Pioneer’s website since it was posted.

I talked to Clark on Thursday morning, soon after receiving the call from New Jersey. She’s a bit stunned, she said, at how far the letter has spread and what it means to others.

“I am receiving so many heartfelt thank you’s and this has been very humbling,” she wrote to me in an email later that day when I shared the Ireland inquiry. “I’m in awe and disbelief. This was not what I was expecting — I just wanted to let those in the field know they are appreciated and that we see them, even if they don’t feel like it.”

Clark is closely connected to the emergency personnel world, she told me. Her father is a former firefighter and now a fire marshal, while her mother is a nurse and a former emergency medical technician.

Clark actually wrote the letter back in March. She’s part of an online writing group called The Odyssey, and sent it there first.

But she was inspired to send it along to us, she said, after seeing the tremendous response from emergency personnel — and the community in general — after last weekend’s search for two missing boys near Puposky.

“I just wanted to let these people know … your actions didn’t go unnoticed,” she said.

Clark herself is looking to enter the health care field; she’s studying at BSU to become a radiology technician.

Clark’s letter is especially meaningful to me. I’ve written in this space before about my respect for the emergency response community, as well as for law enforcement and the military.

Like Karmen, I am also closely connected to the emergency personnel world. In fact, I’m married to it. My wife, Betsy, is a former volunteer firefighter and EMT. Our middle daughter, Haddie Maee, will graduate from BHS this year and plans to attend school to become a firefighter like her mother.

It seems each generation wants to lament about those who will follow. They’re lacking in something, we hear, whether it’s work ethic, humility or gratitude. Which is total nonsense. Clark exemplifies many of her generation.

Clark closed her letter to emergency personnel by writing, “We see you.”

We see you, Karmen.

Matt Cory is editor of the Pioneer.