Van Beek: In loving memory
While springtime is symbolic of renewed life, in the law enforcement community, it is also a time of remembrance of those who have fallen in the line of duty.
Losing someone is hard. We all suffer loss, but for the families of law enforcement officers, it can be especially difficult, as it is sudden, unexpected, and done while protecting communities against the kind of pain their family is currently suffering.
Being there to protect those who are unable to protect themselves, even at great personal risk, is a calling that few in law enforcement can ignore. It is a mission in which they are willing to leave their families, to protect the lives of total strangers, and they wouldn’t have it any other way. They understand that someone must make the sacrifice.
Some have paid the ultimate price and never made it home. Their children, looking at the door, waiting … their spouse, wishing they had said something different before you left … plans gone, dreams crushed, special moments no longer possible. Just emptiness and pain.
362 officers’ names are engraved on the Colorado Law Enforcement Memorial.
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The first Friday in May of each year is the annual memorial ceremony where the names of officers who were lost in the line of duty the previous year are added.
In 1978, Ted Rosack, the FBI’s Special Agent overseeing Denver’s FBI office, had the idea to create a Colorado memorial to honor law enforcement line-of-duty deaths.
This Friday, May 2, at 10 a.m., there will be a service in honor of those who have fallen in the line of duty at the Colorado Law Enforcement Memorial in Golden.
The names of the fallen being honored this year are:
- Officer Dale Coski, Denver Police Department, Sept. 26, 2024
- Officer Evan Dunn, Golden Police Department, Nov. 6, 2024
- Airman Trinity Reinhart, United States Air Force Security Forces, Sept. 16, 2023
- Deputy Stuart Holt, Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, June 2, 2014
- Executive Director Tom Clements, Colorado Department of Corrections, March 19, 2013
- Sheriff Seth Wright, San Juan Utah Sheriff’s Office, Oct. 14, 1960
There is also a Memorial Day Remembrance Ceremony scheduled on May 31 at 3 p.m. at Freedom Park in Edwards to honor all veterans and first Responders who lost their lives in the line of duty.
There’s also the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund in Washington. The memorial, located in Judiciary Square, honors over 23,785 law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty since 1791.
In May, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund’s schedule for May includes a National Police K9 Memorial Service on May 11, a Police Unity Tour Bicycle Ride-In on May 12, and a Shomrim Ceremony and Candlelight Vigil on May 13 on the National Mall. On Thursday, May 15, there will be a Stand Watch for the Fallen at midnight.
You can light a virtual candle for the fallen at the Memorial Fund’s website. Clint Eastwood will match your gift of $37 or more and the fund will light a virtual candle in your honor.
You can also visit the Officer Down Memorial Page, which is a fallen officer database at ODMP.org
It is a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring the lives and sacrifices of America’s fallen law enforcement officers. With over 26,000 officers lost in the line of duty since 1776, the Officer Down Memorial Page preserves their legacies by providing a meaningful platform for surviving families, fellow officers, friends, and the public to remember and pay tribute to their courage and service. The list includes K9s.
I will end this column with an anonymous poem (no author attribution listed), regarding the passing of a loved one, that I discovered online, titled, “I’m Home.” While it reminds me of families left behind, its sentiment belongs to us all.
I am gone, release me, let me go.
I have so many things to see and do.
You mustn’t tie yourself to me with tears.
Be happy that we had so many beautiful years.
I gave to you my love.
You can only guess how much you gave to me in happiness.
I thank you for the love you have shown.
But, now it’s time I travel on alone.
So, grieve for me a while, if grieve you must.
Then let your grief be comforted by trust.
It’s only for a while that we must part.
Bless the memories within your heart.
I won’t be far away, for life goes on.
If you need me, call and I will come.
Though you cannot see or touch me, I’ll be near.
If you listen with your heart, you’ll hear my love, soft and clear.
And then, when you must come this way alone,
I’ll greet you with a smile and say,
“Welcome Home.”
James van Beek is the Eagle County sheriff. You can reach him at james.vanbeek@eaglecounty.us.
