Robert Ventullo, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, said his admiration for the men and women who serve as police officers and firefighters led him to present the town with three flags flown at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

“It’s an admiration I have for them. It’s always been a lifelong dream to become a police officer,” said Ventullo, a Salem resident who serves in the Massachusetts National Guard. “They risk their lives every day. Every time they go into work their lives are on the line, just like mine was. They do it every day.”

Ventullo, who said that though he had never been able to realize his dream of becoming one of the boys in blue, he has enjoyed his 18 years as a member of the military police, also presented a flag each to the Fire Department and the town hall.

He returned from his most recent 12-month tour in Iraq with 150 U.S. flags he had purchased and then flown above the embassy for friends and relatives while he was stationed in the Green Zone. Ventullo said that having the ability to fly the flags was one of the benefits of being a military police officer serving overseas.

“It’s pretty hard to get an American flag flown on any embassy,” he said. “Being an MP, we have our little perks and we’re allowed to do certain things. If you wanted a flag flown in Baghdad, it would be hard for you to do it. It’s not like everybody can do it.”

According to Deputy Chief William Ganley, the flags will be put on display behind a glass case along with a plaque inside the police department. He described the flag as a touching gift for a department that has its own share of combat veterans and seen a few officers leave their families and their jobs to serve overseas.

On Oct. 13, Ganley was on hand with Salem’s Board of Selectmen to honor both Ventullo’s donation and his service to the nation.

“I guess we’ve seen it first hand. Some of our guys have gone away to Afghanistan and Iraq, and we know the sacrifices they make with their families. It was nice to see a resident drop (the flag) off for us and recognize the Police Department. We were humbled,” Ganley said. “It was nice to have a soldier get recognition for a job well done. We just wanted to make sure he felt his efforts were appreciated.”

Ventullo said the real heroes were the people back home. First and foremost among them was his wife, who he said managed a household and cared for their three small children while he was overseas.

“When I left for Iraq, my daughter was 4 months old and I had 2-year-old twin girls,” he said. “She had to maintain my house and had all of the responsibility dumped on her while I was away. She was more of a hero while I was away. She had three kids in diapers and doing the simplest things, cutting the grass, plowing, she got all that dumped on her while I was gone.”

With six years left in the National Guard, Ventullo is looking at another deployment overseas sometime in July of 2009. The hardest part, he said, will be leaving his children again.

“I’m worried for kids, not for me,” he said the father of four. “They just don’t understand. When I left my daughter, the first time I saw her walk was on a Webcam. You miss birthdays and holidays. At a young age they don’t understand.”