MACHIAS – It’s a small pin, but it has a big message: “United We Stand Until Our Heroes Come Home.”

And the men and women of the Washington County Sheriff’s Department, who may be the first law enforcement agency in the nation to wear one, are sporting the pins to demonstrate their support for the nation’s military, Sheriff Joseph Tibbetts said last week.

The pins were issued last week.

“This is in no way to influence anyone’s opinion of national policy, only to show our support for brothers and sisters that have been deployed,” the sheriff said in an internal memo.

The pin also is in honor of Cpl. Tim Tabbutt of Columbia, who is a corrections officer and part-time deputy for the department.

Tabbutt, a staff sergeant in the Army National Guard’s 1136 Transportation Company, based in Scarborough, was called up in February. “He is a member of the transportation unit that resupplies the ground troops,” Tibbetts said. “Right now he is someplace between Fort Dix, New Jersey, and Iraq.”

The pin also is to honor the three Troop J Maine State Police troopers – Elmer Farren, Daniel Worcester and Greg Mitchell – who are on active duty.

The Sheriff’s Department designed the pin. The slogan is wrapped around a star. “The star is in the center and represents law enforcement,” he said.

The pin is the same size as those the Maine Criminal Justice Academy issues for the various police agencies. “We have one for instructors, we have one for the corrections officers, we have one for the full-time law enforcement officers.”

The pin is to be worn on the left-hand pocket of the uniform. “This will become a standard part of the sheriff’s office uniform. It will also be displayed by any employee of the sheriff’s office while on duty,” Tibbetts said in his memo.

The sheriff also said he is offering his own support: “Every day at lunchtime, I open a can of beans or a can of something and eat it with a plastic spoon. Because I know somewhere in the world there is someone sitting up on either the side of a tank or sitting in the sand and eating with a plastic spoon and wishing they were home.”