The Mid-Atlantic Police & Fire Survivors Weekend

September 27^th – 29^th, 2013



The following is a transcript of my presentation at the Survivors Weekend Candlelight Vigil.  Enjoy!

Good evening everyone.

          Thank you Patrick; and I’d like to especially thank the Mid-Atlantic Police & Fire Survivors Weekend and the Cape May County Police & Fire Emerald Society for inviting me here tonight to speak on behalf of the greater law enforcement community.

          As Patrick indicated, I’ve become a writer of history, and as such I’d like to pose a historical question to you all from a somewhat different perspective.  I’d like you to think about where you are and how you got here, this place, this weekend, this association.  Of course your first response is that you are a survivor, be it family, a friend, an associate, or brother officer, we are all survivors.  But, if you look into what the deceased officer believed in, why he or she chose this profession, you’ll find one all encompassing answer – Tradition.  But what is Tradition?  Webster’s defines tradition as the: 1. Transmittal of elements of a culture from one generation to another, esp. by oral communication.  2a. A mode for thought or behavior passed from one generation to another.  b. Customs and usages transmitted from one generation to another and viewed as a coherent body of precedents influencing the present: HERITAGE. 3. A body of unwritten religious precepts. 4. A time-honored practice or a set of such practices. 5. Law. Transfer of property to another.

          Every agency and every officer within the law enforcement community and the fire service is deeply steeped in Tradition.  It is their Heritage, and I’d like to touch on a few examples:  

The Hand Salute:  You’ve all seen military personnel salute each other, you’ve all seen police and fire service personnel do the same thing, salute each other.  But where did the salute come from, where did it originate?  Well there are several theories on the hand salute.  The one that I think poses the most believable dates back to medieval times, the Renaissance, the 13^th and 14^th centuries.  It’s a time when Europe was ruled by kings in various kingdoms, and they had knights dressed in coats of armor that patrolled the kingdoms.  And from time to time when they would do their perimeter patrols they would come across their counterpart from the neighboring kingdoms.  And as the two knights approached each other, they would outstretch their right hand, their strong hand, their sword hand, and showing no weapon, no threat.  They would raise the face shield of their helmet showing their face as a sign of friendship and respect.  The salute has been handed down through the ages and believe it or not, has been adopted by every standing army, police, and fire department on the entire planet, everyone salutes.

          During the funeral of military officers, police officers, and fire service personnel the hand salute is very important.  It’s a final salute, a show of friendship, admiration, and respect for the fallen officer.

The Funeral Procession:  The funeral procession dates all the way back to ancient Roman times where the heads of state, the Senators and such would have vast funeral processions a parade if you will, where everyone attended and took part.  Then again, if you were a mere citizen or a peasant, there was no funeral procession for you.  It was incumbent upon your son or your closest friend to take your body to the crypt to be buried.  I don’t need to explain to you how important the funeral procession is for military, police, and fire service personnel.  The mere fact that so many people take part, the fact that they are so detailed, lends credence to just how important these people are to the community.

The Riderless Horse:  You’ve seen the riderless horse in various funeral processions, mainly the military, police, and sometimes in the fire service.  The riderless horse dates back cavalry times, it’s a cavalry tradition.  And when you see the riderless horse following behind the caisson where the casket is being transported it gives a specific sign of what’s transpired, the Trooper rides no more.  That’s what it means, the Trooper rides no more.

Taps:  We’ve all heard Taps, but do you know where Taps came from?  Believe it or not, Taps isn’t all that old.  It originated during the Civil War, right here in the United States.  It’s played by a lone bugler you here far off in the distance at the cemetery during the funeral service.  Originally, Taps denoted during the Civil War a direction for the soldiers to rest and put out their fires.  Now days, Taps played at a funeral services is a call to the deceased to take his final resting place.

          These customs instill an important sense of pride in each and every officer, time honored practices passed on from one generation to another, they’re unwritten religious precepts influencing the present.  Their Heritage, their Traditions, they’re important.  I will tell you that I’ve attended far too many law enforcement funerals, and I was honored to attend every one.  It is the ultimate opportunity to express your friendship, admiration, and respect for a fellow comrade.

          While researching my book I came across an early documented event in support of officer benefits from which I wrote:

          The service of a Jersey Trooper is not one of pomp and grandeur, but of dedication and perseverance, encompassing long hours and patrols far from home.  It’s a calling measured by many successes and few rewards, a career of duty and integrity, where every member is asked to do the unexpected, in an expected fashion.

          Governor Calvin Coolidge remarked while addressing the Worcester Police Outing in Worcester, Massachusetts on October 2, 1920:

          The duties which a police officer owes to the state are of a most exacting nature.  No one is compelled to choose the profession of a police officer, but having chosen it, everybody is obliged to live up to the standard of its requirements.  To join in that high enterprise means the surrender of much individual freedom.  The police officer has chosen a profession that he must hold to at all peril…

          But there is toward the officer a corresponding duty of the State.  It owes him a generous compensation for the perils he endures for the protection of society.  It owes him the knowledge of security that is to be his from want in his declining years.  It owes him that measure that is due to the great importance of the duties he discharges.

          That was 1920, and over the decades officer benefits have risen substantially.  But you must keep in mind that politicians, not police officers or the fire service allocate and approve benefits.  It has been my experience that anytime you leave something up to politicians it only winds up being half right at best – no offense.

          But 25 years ago, here in New Jersey, surviving family members received virtually no benefits, especially in light of the supreme loss they incurred.  Where was the justice, when active duty and retirees and their families enjoyed the same benefits that your fallen husbands had worked just as hard for and ultimately paid with their very lives in the service of the State? 

          Then in 1987, four wives of fallen Jersey Troopers, killed in the line of duty rallied in the hopes of correcting that disservice.  Nancy Moos, Peggy Mallen, Donna Lamonaco and Michelle Carroll, four very motivated and courageous ladies stepped forward and challenged the politicians to right this shortcoming.

          Their efforts have resulted in great accomplishments over the past 2 ½ decades.  Not only have they achieved the benefits they required, but because of their plight, organizations and events such as this have been established.  In essence:  Their actions established time honored practices that are now passed on from one generation to another, influencing the present.  They are in fact New Traditions.

          On behalf of the greater law enforcement community I’d like to acknowledge these four ladies and all that have followed in their footsteps.  These are the Traditions that result from tragedy. 

          And lastly, I like to share one more Tradition that was adopted in 1923 with the passing of our first Jersey Trooper.  It’s a Calvary Tradition that simply states, “Once a Trooper, Always a Trooper.”  Their inability to complete their patrol made them and their families no less worthy.  While you may have lost your loved one, you will always be a part of our law enforcement family.

Thank you all very much, and may God Bless.

 

Lt. George J. Wren, Jr., #3680 – NJSP (Ret)

Candlelight Vigil – September 28, 2013

North Wildwood, New Jersey

Student for life: Joseph Yacono III, Class of 2012

This article was posted as a feature graduate story for the 2012 Graduation Commencement at Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Just another great Jersey Trooper success story!

By Kenna Caprio

Fairleigh Dickinson University graduate student Joseph Yacono III did not anticipate donning a cap and gown and marching at commencement.

And yet, he found himself on the Metropolitan Campus at the Graduate Salute in mid-April picking up that cap and gown.

“Commencement is not for me — it’s more for my family and friends,” says Yacono. “As a student, the achievements come when you get the grade.”

Academic achievements came a little later in life for Yacono, a 45-year-old cancer survivor, state trooper, army veteran and Pitman, N.J. resident.

“Our school, Fairleigh Dickinson, opened my eyes to the importance of education,” says Yacono. “I thought life experience was more important than ‘wasting money’ on reading books and sharing ideas with others. Man, was I arrogant.”

Yacono’s journey back to the classroom started several years ago as he and his wife Lorie sat down to discuss the future. While making a checklist for retirement — New Jersey state troopers are required to retire at the age of 55 — Yacono realized that he did not see himself “anywhere without an education,” he says. “My wife challenged me to go back to school.”

Wife Lorie has an accounting degree from what was Glassboro State College, now Rowan University, daughter Alyson studies physical therapy at University of the Sciences and son Joe majors in mechanical engineering at Drexel University.

“(I was the) only person without a degree, and we’re very competitive here,” says Yacono laughing.

Around the time Yacono resolved to go back to school, Roger Kane — FDU’s Director of Petrocelli College Transfer Student Services — spoke at the local police barracks about the Bachelor of Arts in individualized studies.

The B.A. individualized studies degree offers students the opportunity to study at 55 locations throughout New Jersey. Classes are held at state police barracks, community colleges and National Guard buildings. Most students are “service providers,” working as law enforcement officers, state troopers, firemen, and emergency medical technicians or are in the military or homeland security fields, says Kane. Students in the program usually enter with some college credits, either looking to finish their degrees in an effort to move up in their careers or are planning to retire and work in a different sector.

Fairleigh Dickinson University had three important things Yacono was looking for: satellite learning locations, online classes and a manageable cost.

“We try to make the transition back into school and going to school as simple as possible so that they can run their jobs, lives and family and just go to school,” says Kane.

But for Yacono, enrolling in classes would prove to be harder than just picking up the phone or registering online.

Not long after he decided to hit the books, he encountered a major health setback.

Diagnosed with Squamous Cell Carcinoma — a form of skin cancer — in 2007, Yacono’s plans for higher education had to wait. The cancer, which appeared on the base of his tongue and lymph nodes, forced Yacono to undergo a total of three surgeries in four weeks. Doctors at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, who were pioneering Trans-Oral Robotic Surgery, treated Yacono. During the surgeries, doctors removed 20 lymph nodes and Yacono underwent 32 radiation sessions. He had a feeding tube for three months.

“You think you’re going to die,” says Yacono of being that sick. “And when you’re a trooper you feel like you’re never going to die.”

Yacono’s memory also suffered during his illness and he took to writing everything down to remember it.

Still, Lorie didn’t give up on Yacono returning to school, giving him the nudge he needed. “My wife said, ‘You have to show your kids that you can do it at any age and (that it takes) a little bit of hard work to achieve your dreams,’” he says.

As Yacono’s recovery progressed, his health improved and so did his prognosis. “I accepted the challenge to enroll at FDU in the fall of 2010,” says Yacono. He graduated with his Bachelor of Arts in individualized studies in the summer of 2011 and will graduate with his MAS, master’s of administrative science, this May.

“My tunnel vision has opened to a newly improved wide-angle lens,” he says of his education and diagnosis. “I see life more clearly with my faith, lessons learned from fellow classmates, and some wonderful professors.”

In fact, the cancer diagnosis informed Yacono’s choice of a master’s program and thoughts for his post-trooper career.

“Cancer kind of shaped me into who I am today,” says the graduate student.

The civil servant wants to continue to help people after retiring from the force. “I think my education will help me be able to advocate for cancer patients, in human resources or as a patient’s advocate.” During his time at Penn, he appreciated the close connection between the hospital and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. And in considering his future, he thinks of those kids at CHOP who haven’t yet traveled the world or had their own family.

“I want to take the burden from my mind and help somebody else,” says a humble Yacono.

“I see a little bit of myself in Joe,” admits adjunct professor George Wren, a retired state trooper. Wren taught Yacono in a leadership development seminar and says Yacono is interested in “gaining the insight about the people around him, and that’s good quality,” says Wren.

Yacono’s degrees, Kane notes, will help advance him as a trooper and provide a path for him after retirement. When evaluating and promoting their troopers, the state police take into account educational background.

“Joe is just a home run,” says Kane.

But Yacono may not see it that way, instead choosing to describe himself as “not really flashy.” He is content to have completed his degrees and to apply his global education to life and work.

“Now I’m not afraid to retire from my job and now I feel like I have something to hold on to,” says Yacono of graduating. “It’s an important part of life, shaping your education.”
And, oh yes, the FDU alum is cancer-free as he approaches the five-year anniversary of his diagnosis on June 7. Home run indeed.

Yacono and wife Lorie pose for a picture in front

of the view of Old City on a trip to Israel.

Featured Former Jersey Trooper

            I’ve taken this opportunity to feature a former Jersey Trooper some might recall, most - probably not, but one whose scholastic abilities set the pace for his career and the remainder of his life.  Recalling his youth, he ran everywhere.  He was only ten when his father sent him off on an errand to the store in downtown Pitman for a pack of cigarettes.  Running the full half-mile trek he quickly made the purchase and was midway home in full sprint when an unsuspecting lady opened the door from inside her parked car just as the swift footed youngster passed by.  Colliding full force with the massive hulking car door, the young, weightless runner bounced wildly into the street.  Immediately, he shook off the violent collision, jumped up and scurried away, unaware of the gash the imposing car door left upon his head. 

            Fearful for the boy’s safety, the concerned lady summoned the local police and gave a detailed description of youth.  The officers were well aware of the boy’s identity, not because of any delinquency, but because of their amazement of his running ability.  Every time they saw him he was running, and he was fast.  Proceeding to his home they found him in the confidence of his father, the local auto mechanic, a white towel held upon head, blood stained from the gash he received in his collision with the weighty car door.  A ride in the police car to a nearby doctor for a few stitches was all that remained of the mishap.  But that didn’t slow him down.

            Eight years later, this 1949 graduate of Pitman High School, left an outstanding mark as both an athlete and student leader.  In football, he lettered three years, playing end on offense and in the backfield on defense.  In his senior year the team was Tri-County Champions, loosing just one game to a non-league opponent, Lower Regional.  Their 8-1 record was the best in Pitman’s history.

            At only 135 lbs. and one of the smallest players on the field you can imagine that football wasn’t his premier sport, but his speed was a constant threat on every play.  His greatest success however was in track.  As a freshman and sophomore he was an excellent quarter-miler, achieving Tri-County and South Jersey Group I Championships in that race.  Doubling that distance, he is considered as one of Pitman’s best ever half-milers, where he won all but two races as a junior and then going undefeated as a senior, winning Tri-County, the South Jersey Group I Championship, and finally being the New Jersey State Group I Champion.

            His 1946, 47 and 48 teams were Tri-County Champions, and the 1946 and 47 teams also won the South Jersey Championships.  In 1949, the team won the Bridgeton Relays, a first ever for a Pitman High team.  But South Jersey was only local news.

            The successes of the Pitman team qualified them to participate in the Penn Relays in all four years.  The 1946 team captured first place in the mile relay.  But that wasn’t his personal highlight.  In 1949, his senior year he ran the third leg of the mile relay.  Receiving the baton, he was thirty yards behind the leader.  Through sheer determination he was able to make up the entire deficit and handed off the baton tied with the leader, a 51.8 quarter mile, better than the school’s stand alone quarter mile record.  An amazing accomplishment, shortly overshadowed by defeat, the team lost the race by one foot.

            As a senior he was president of the Student Council, active in the Dramatic Club, serving as president, and performing lead parts in both his junior and senior class plays.  Always artistic, he won third place nationally at Carnegie Hall in Pittsburgh out of thousands of entries for abstract design.

            After graduating high school, he attended Kings College in Delaware, labored for a local cement mason, and then worked briefly for RCA and Dupont before enlisting in the New Jersey State Police in 1954. 

            Anyone who knows Lieutenant Alfred C. Mossop, #1337 (Ret.) knows he doesn’t stand still for long.  Always on the move, he hurried his way around Troops “A,” “C,” and “D” before being posted at Division Headquarters in the Community Relations Unit, and then lastly at Emergency Management before retiring in 1983, after twenty-nine years of service.

             Outside the State Police, Al served in the New Jersey National Guard for twenty-two years, retiring in 1972 at the rank of Major. Over the years he’s served on the Elk Township Resolution Committee, was President of the Jim Thorpe Lions Club, served as Regular Chairman of the Lions Club, and was Deputy Sheriff of Carbon County, Pa.

            Currently, Al serves on the Salem County Resolution Committee, and is a monthly regular at the Troop “A” retiree get-togethers at Bernardi’s Wheat Road Tavern in Vineland.

            Al was inducted into the Pitman High School Sports Hall of Fame on November 27, 2005, and the Gloucester County Sports Hall of Fame on March 28, 2006.

            After his retirement, Al and his wife Nancy relocated from South Jersey to Jim Thorpe, Pa., to Kissimmee, Fl., and then back to South Jersey.  It’s kind of like running that oval track in his younger days.  No matter how far you go, you always wind up where you started the race.  After four children, twelve grandchildren, and four great grandchildren you’d think he’d start to slow down.  Not even close.  I’ve known Al personally for thirty-eight years, and I still can’t keep up with him.   

   Lt. George Wren, #3680 (Ret.)

(As previously posted in the December 2011 issue of True Blue & Gold)

An unCommon Response!

Rapping at the White House

By Bill O'Reilly for BillOReilly.com Thursday, May 12, 2011 Once again we have an association controversy at the White House. This week, a rapper who calls himself "Common" was invited by Michelle Obama to read some of his "poetry" to a hand-picked audience in the "People's House." The problem is that Common (real name Lonnie Rashid Lynn) has glorified convicted cop killers Joanne Chesimard and Mumia Abu-Jamal. You may remember that Ms. Chesimard, a member of the Black Liberation Army, was found guilty of first-degree murder in 1977 for killing New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster. After being stopped on the Jersey Turnpike, Chesimard and two accomplices opened fire on Foerster and his partner, James Harper, who was wounded. Chesimard was sentenced to life in prison but escaped in 1979, fleeing to Cuba, where she has been granted asylum. Even though Common wasn't even born when that murder took place, he has insisted in his raps that Ms. Chesimard is innocent. He has said the same thing about Abu-Jamal, convicted of killing Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981. While Common is entitled to rap any way he wants, it is troubling that he would be sought out by the White House for a prestigious exposition. Is this not a tacit endorsement of the man? Presidential spokesman Jay Carney says no, explaining that sympathy for cop killers is not "the sum total of this particular artist's work." The number of poets who would like to read their work at the White House is almost unlimited. This is huge honor. Among those reading with Common were Steve Martin and Elizabeth Alexander. Surely, the First Lady could have chosen a more appropriate artist than Common. So, once again, we have a judgment issue. Many police agencies across the country are outraged by the embrace the White House has given Common, and, I submit, millions of Americans are not comfortable with the selection either. I have been a fan of Mrs. Obama's tenure as First Lady. She has brought grace and dignity to the White House. Her campaign to fight child obesity is right on, and I have personally witnessed Mrs. Obama going out of her way to show great kindness to regular folks. But both Barack and Michelle Obama have a blind spot when it comes to social controversy. The Reverend Wright situation was obviously disturbing. Then, on Easter Sunday, the First Couple sat in a church where the cleric, a known verbal bomb-thrower, sermonized about slavery injustice. Now, the questionable Common. The black experience in America is far different than the white experience, and honest people understand that. But the President and First Lady represent all of us, and should always be aware of sensitivities. Common may be the best rapper on earth. But his words have brought pain to the families and friends of two slain police officers. That is enough to disqualify the man from a White House honor. ######

     This issue came to light a couple of days ago, and caused a lot of angst within the law enforcement community.  Having personally researched this senseless murder and written the TRUE story in my book, I decided to submit the below letter to Bill O’Reilly for inclusion on his show ‘The O’Reilly Factor’ on May 12, 2010.  Unfortunately, Mr. O’Reilly’s staff either didn’t feel the contents of my letter worthy, or maybe they just felt it too controversial, so they excluded it from the show.  As such, I posted it on his website today!  Read on…

Kudos to you Mr. O'Reilly, and to Jersey Trooper David Jones for bringing to light what extremes our misguided president will go to get re-elected. Emulating the fraudulent celebrity and heinous lyrics of the rapper Common is disgraceful. On Police Week, it is beyond reproach. As one who personally reviewed the extensive investigation files of the senseless murder of Trooper Werner Forester for my historical book Jersey Troopers II: The Next 35 Years (1971-2006), I can assure you, not only did Joanne Chesimard assassinate the already mortally wounded Trooper Forester, but she alone started the shoot-out, shooting Trooper James Harper first and then murdering Trooper Forester, all because she feared being arrested for her part in an earlier Black Liberation Army bank robbery. The TRUE account of what happened in the first hours of that fateful May 2, 1973 morning can be found in my book. Please feel free to pass that on to our misguided chief executive, and that fraud Common. Lt. George J. Wren, Jr., NJSP - Retired Sea Isle City, New Jersey www.jerseytroopersii.com

A historic investigation for a former State Police lieutenant

Posted: Sunday, April 18, 2010 4:00 am | Updated: 7:12 am, Sun Apr 18, 2010.

By STEVEN V. CRONIN, Staff WriterpressofAtlanticCity.com |

You'd think after serving 25 years in the New Jersey State Police, George J. Wren Jr. would know this about police officers - they really don't like being interviewed.
But that's exactly what the longtime law-enforcement vet set out to do shortly after turning in his badge.
"For the most part, police officers in general are tight-lipped. Thank God I had good interviewing skills," said Wren.
Just how good the interviewing skills the 53-year-old Sea Isle City man developed during his police career are apparent in the size of "Jersey Troopers II," Wren's 712-page history of the State Police in the years between 1971 and 2006.
The book includes anecdotes by active and former police officers, as well as information Wren gleaned from combing through records at the New Jersey State Police Museum & Learning Center in West Trenton.
The book is a sequel to an earlier one by Leo J. Coakley, a State Police sergeant who had covered the organization's history from its founding in 1921 through its first 50 years.
Wren had read that book before entering the State Police in 1982 and again shortly after joining the force.
Coakley's book ended with a statement that the future history of the State Police has yet to be written. Young, excited about his new job, Wren took the sergeant's challenge to heart.
"Back in 1983 and 1984, when I was trooper patrolling the backwoods in Cumberland County, I read Coakley's book and said to myself 'If no one does it by the time I retire, I'll do it,'" Wren said. "When I got down to retirement, I thought, 'No one's done it yet, so why not?'"
Researching the book, Wren found why no one else had attempted the project. A former member of the State Police's Intelligence Bureau, the retired trooper soon discovered researching the book to be a job in itself.
"My wife will tell you I did it more than full-time," Wren said.
Wren most enjoyed meeting with other former troopers and discussing their time on the job.
"That was the most fun - getting together with guys and talking about old cases and stuff. It was good sitting down with guys who were in maybe 15 and 20 years before I was, and talking about what they did. It was a lot of fun to gain their insight on things."
With the book published by a print-on-demand company, Wren and his wife sell it through their Web site, www.jerseytroopersii.com. Proceeds from the sale of the $48.95 hardcover and $38.95 softcover go to a scholarship fund for the children of troopers who died off duty.
Contact Steven V. Cronin:
609-272-7242
SCronin@pressofac.com

The History

Jersey Troopers II serves as the continuing saga of the New Jersey State Police and its preeminent Outfit of Jersey Troopers.  As the title denotes, Jersey Troopers II picks up where the original story ended in 1971 with the first published book written by Sergeant Leo J. Coakley, titled, Jersey Troopers: A Fifty Year History of the New Jersey State Police.  Together, these two books cover an 85 year history of our esteemed State Constabulary, a history well worth the read.  Copies are readily available at Amazon.com and via my website www.jerseytroopersii.com.  All proceeds from sales derived from my website go toward establishing an educational fund to support the children of deceased or disabled Jersey Troopers.  Enjoy our history!