MAY 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 5

FROM THE GUEST

FROM THE GUEST EDITOR’S DESK CONGRATULATIONS The backstory of Peace Officer Memorial Day and National Police Week. The last several generations know of Peace Officer Memorial Day the weeklong celebrations of life along with all the memories of those we’ve lost. There’s COPS (Concerns of Police Survivors) and multiple other clubs and organizations who work tirelessly to ensure the entire week, is centered around and with the utmost respect for the Fallen Officers and their arriving, surviving family members. I’d like to share with you the backstory of exactly where Peace Officer Memorial Day originally came from and what it meant to those who pushed so hard for those who gave everything they had. To do that, we’ll have to turn the pages of time and history back to October 1, 1961, when President John F. Kennedy and the United States Congress worked together (a much different time) to create a day whereby those who died so that others might live, could be properly honored, respected and above all, remembered. JFK was staunchly behind this endeavor. Citing his time of service and great sacrifice in WWII as the Skipper of Patrol Torpedo Boat 109, he felt compelled to make sure one of the lasting legacies of his Presidency, his life and those who sacrificed so much, are never forgotten. And their surviving family members are given the honor, dignity, respect and above all, compassion they deserve. For their loved one, he (JFK) knew all too well, were never to return home. During WWII, 62,614 United States Naval Officers and Sailors lost their lives in the service of their Country. An additional 37,778 Officers and men were injured as a direct result of Combat Action. JFK was keenly aware of these numbers. Especially since his ship was rammed and lost by a Japanese Ship, during combat actions in the Pacific Theater. Some of JFK’s Crew were lost, all were either burned or otherwise injured. The man who endured so much physical pain, knew all too well the mental pain which comes with such trauma, loss and ferocity. So, fast forward from October 1961 to May 14, 1962, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, a true Warrior from back “in the day”, was resolute with the stroke of his pen, signing into Law, May 15th as National Peace Officer Memorial Day and the week of the 15th to highlight all the sacrifices of those lost and those whom, they left behind. In 1961, the year JFK and “Lawmakers” in D.C. proposed and pushed for our National Peace Officer Memorial Day, 148 Law Enforcement Officers lost their lives, in the Line of Duty. In 1962, the year JFK signed the Law, 145 Law Enforcement Officers, were lost. Last year, 2021 a total of 616 Law Enforcement Officers lost their lives, in the Line of Duty. Thus far, in 2022, 98 Officers have fallen. When put into the proper perspective, that’s a LOT of Mothers, Fathers, Brothers, Sisters, Sons and Daughters who’ve been most unfairly treated. For they each had taken from them a loved one whom, they did not deserve to lose nor do they deserve to forevermore have to live without. This Peace Officer Memorial Week, they’ll be lost of meetings, gatherings and even a “party” or two. They’ll also be many a tear to silently fall. Many a shaking hand, large and small, reaching out to touch the names engraved upon the Wall of Honor. The wall whereby, the lives those names represent, shall not REX EVANS ever be forgotten. We can’t. Not only would forgetting to be a travesty in and of itself but, the men and women lost and their families, don’t deserve to simply (intentionally or not) to be forgotten. One last note, what we do is, more dangerous than it has been in many, many years. More Officers are dying in the Line of Duty annually and tragically by their own hand, than ever before since such records have been kept. Speaking of the word kept this week of May the 15th please try to remember; we are truly one another’s Keeper. No one else, will. They just won’t. We owe it to one another, those who we lose and those who are injured, to their loved ones and friends, to be there for one another, always. Most humbly, reverently and sincerely, to those who helped push so hard back in 61 and 62, and especially to our Fallen President, United States Naval Combat Veteran, Husband and Father, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, “Thank you.” It probably wasn’t well received by some but, your actions to this day, reverberate across our Nation every year, every week of May the 15th. And we, the men and women of the Thin Blue Line, our loved ones and our friends are, eternally grateful… 10 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 11