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