HONORING SERVICE AND SACRIFICES
Law enforcement personnel memorialize fallen police officers
NORRISTOWN » All was quiet on Main Street in Norristown Friday as fallen officers were honored at the annual Montgomery County Police Officer Memorial.
Main Street was closed at Airy and Dekalb streets as police officers, state troopers, the public and family members of fallen officers gathered in front of the Montgomery County Courthouse to begin the annual ceremony.
The solemn ceremony began with a raising of the flags and the singing of “The Star Spangled Banner” while officers lined up in the street and other attendees crowded around the memorial that stands in the middle of Hancock Square.
“Pennsylvania is home to more than 25,000 police officers,” said Sen. Pat Toomey as he addressed the crowd. “We have 780,000 police officers nationwide and that sounds like a big number and it is. But it is a very, very small fraction of a great nation of over 300 million people. That small fraction of us stand between us and great danger every day. They protect us, they protect hundreds of millions of Americans. These are the people who
put on blue uniforms every day and literally run toward danger. They run toward violence. They do that so the rest of us can be safe from danger and safe from violence.”
Toomey was one of several speakers on Friday who addressed the crowd on the importance of remembering fallen officers and reminding folks of what men and women in uniform do every day. Other speakers at the memorial service included Les Neri, president of Pennsylvania State Lodge, FOP; state Sen. John Rafferty Jr.; First Assistant District Attorney Edward F. McCann and Valerie Arkoosh, chairwoman of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners.
Following remarks from speakers, a memorial reading was done by Matt O’Connell, president of FOP Lodge 31 and Joseph Braun, president of FOP Lodge 28. At that time officers and family members of the deceased had the opportunity to place flowers in a basket that sat at the foot of the Fraternal Order of Police Memorial outside the courthouse.
As the 28 names of fallen officers in Montgomery County were read aloud, attendees stood in silence in remembrance of their sacrifices.
“Friends, brothers, sisters, this memorial day finds us assembled for the noble purpose of paying our sincere respect to the memory of those departed brothers who gave their lives in performance of their duties. We, as they, who have dedicated ourselves to the preservation of law and order stand here in their absence to renew our dedication and assure them that they did not die in vain. Their names, inscribed upon this memorial monument are to ever remind us that ours is a duty, not only to the living but to the memory of those who pioneered our profession,” said Matt O’Connell, president of FOP Lodge 31.
Courthouse bells were then tolled 28 times for the fallen and the ceremony concluded with a rifle salute, the playing of “Taps,” and the performance of “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes and “God Bless America” sung by Sara Agnew.