Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) spoke at a memorial ceremony for Illinois police.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:10 I've seen members of the General Assembly and
00:12 have also taken time out of their day to be here with us.
00:16 I'd also like to thank fellow law enforcement officers who
00:21 have taken time to be here to help honor our brothers and
00:26 sisters that have been killed in line of duty.
00:29 Our returning Gold Star families and then the reason that we're here,
00:33 this year's Gold Star families.
00:36 Welcome to the police memorial.
00:37 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:41 Our first speaker today will be the Governor of the State of Illinois,
00:46 JB Pritzker.
00:47 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:49 >> [APPLAUSE]
00:56 >> Well, good morning everyone and thank you very much to David for
01:00 your many years of service to our state and
01:03 for helping us every year to honor our fallen heroes.
01:07 [BLANK_AUDIO]
01:08 There are stars whose radiance is visible on Earth,
01:13 though they have been long extinct.
01:16 There are people whose brilliance continues to light the world,
01:21 even though they are no longer among the living.
01:25 We join together today to remember and
01:28 pay homage to the police officers that we lost last year.
01:31 Those who gave us, well, their all and their lives protecting others,
01:37 who served with integrity and put the safety and
01:41 well being of their communities above their own.
01:46 Each year at this sacred memorial, it's our honor to offer tribute to remind us
01:51 all of the extraordinary acts of selflessness that were carried out each and
01:57 every day, to their colleagues,
02:01 our law enforcement officers from across the state of Illinois.
02:05 [BLANK_AUDIO]
02:08 You put your lives on the line to keep peace each day.
02:12 We owe you an extraordinary debt of gratitude.
02:17 Your bravery and sacrifice carried out on the ground in your neighborhoods for
02:23 all to see sets an example to our children and our grandchildren
02:29 of what values they must strive to achieve in their lives.
02:34 To the families and the friends and loved ones of those taken from us far too soon,
02:43 we owe you not just condolences but support.
02:47 We consecrate this memorial with the promise to honor the memories of those
02:53 you've loved and lost, and by our actions, carry forward their legacies
02:58 of service and dedication to others in our own lives.
03:02 I can't know your unique pain, but I have known loss in my own life.
03:12 And the pain and emptiness that you feel can be overwhelming.
03:18 And there are no words comforting enough to ease that sorrow.
03:22 What I know is that all the things that make their loss so devastating,
03:29 all the memories and the feelings about how special they were,
03:33 can eventually become a source of comfort rather than of grief.
03:37 Over the years ahead, you'll notice a beautiful vista, or
03:42 you'll hear a special song on the radio, or you'll hear someone use a familiar phrase.
03:49 And it will remind you of the person that you've loved and lost.
03:53 And in that moment, a smile will come across your face,
03:58 because you're reminded of the depth of their love, rather than the pain of their loss.
04:04 We will not forget these brave souls.
04:09 They will live on forever in all the lives that they have touched, and
04:14 in the communities that they have protected.
04:16 We stand with you, their families, their friends, their colleagues,
04:23 and pledge to honor their sacrifices today and every day.
04:27 May the memory of the righteous be a blessing.
04:31 >> [APPLAUSE]
04:40 >> Our next speaker will be
04:41 Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton.
04:44 >> [APPLAUSE]
04:50 >> Good morning, I am Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton.
04:54 Thank you, Lieutenant Johnson and
04:56 the Memorial Committee, for allowing us to join you in community.
05:01 I will echo the governor's appreciation for all who are gathered in remembrance.
05:06 To the dedicated officers who still protect us as they mourn
05:13 the loss of their colleagues, I cannot thank you enough for your service.
05:20 To the friends who ache for a laugh that cannot be heard,
05:26 I offer my hands to hold when the silence becomes too loud.
05:31 To the Gold Star families, now staring at a gaping hole in the bedrock of your world,
05:42 I offer my shoulder to lean on when the pain threatens to consume you.
05:48 We will never forget your fallen loved ones.
05:52 And not just in uniform, today we also honor the fullness of their humanity.
05:59 The loving family member who gave the very best hugs.
06:04 The friend who was always the jokester in the bunch.
06:09 The colleague who always had your back.
06:11 The neighbor who was always willing to lend a helping hand.
06:16 The role model to their own children who looked up to them as superheroes.
06:22 Today, I'm thinking about the moment when your loved one became an officer.
06:30 How magical it must have been to see someone you cherish realize their dream.
06:35 To live in service to others is to know true selflessness.
06:42 And my hope is that you will see your officer's soul shimmer in small details.
06:49 A flash of their smile when you speak their name.
06:53 A brush of their hand when you offer it to someone in need.
06:57 I thank you, the families of the fallen,
07:02 because in the same way your officer protected us,
07:06 you are now charged with protecting their memory.
07:10 And while I'm sorry that you have been given this role,
07:14 I know that you will carry it with dignity and determination.
07:17 And though none of us can stop the hurt, we can certainly help you hold your grief.
07:24 As a woman of faith, I return to a scripture that I always turn to in
07:31 moments like this, Psalm 34 verse 18 says, the Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
07:39 He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.
07:42 And so my prayers for you remain that you would know that God is near and
07:50 will always hold you close.
07:54 Thank you.
07:54 >> [APPLAUSE]
08:03 >> Our next speaker,
08:05 the Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raul.
08:09 >> [APPLAUSE]
08:15 >> Good morning.
08:16 Thank you for allowing me to say a few words during this solemn occasion.
08:24 Although there's no way to avoid the feeling that
08:29 any word spoken on this occasion is anything but inadequate.
08:36 To the men and women who proudly wear the uniform for
08:40 your courage and your perseverance, I thank you.
08:45 Without a thought for self, you rush into untold dangers to protect our communities,
08:53 our homes, and our families.
08:56 It is my sincere honor to stand with you today as we remember your brothers and
09:02 sisters who lost their lives in the line of duty.
09:06 May their valor and profound sacrifices shine as a legacy for future officers.
09:14 Our prayers are with you and your families for your strength and
09:21 your continued fortitude.
09:22 Finally, to the families and loved ones of our fallen heroes,
09:29 we pay tribute to you as well.
09:35 >> [APPLAUSE]
09:37 >> For what was given and
09:41 what has been taken, you have our sincere condolences and our eternal gratitude.
09:48 May God bless you and gradually lighten the heaviness of your loss.
09:55 Thank you.
09:55 >> [APPLAUSE]
10:04 >> Our next scheduled speaker,
10:05 Secretary of State Alexi Giannullis.
10:08 His office contacted me just a few days ago and said he had some business
10:15 that he had to attend to that he actually could not get out of or reschedule.
10:20 They did want me though to send his condolences to our families and
10:26 to tell you how much he would have been honored to have been able to be here
10:32 to speak today, that was his true wish.
10:34 Unfortunately, he could not be here, so he sends his condolences.
10:37 Our next scheduled speaker is the Illinois Treasurer, Michael Frerichs.
10:43 >> [APPLAUSE]
10:49 >> Thank you, Dave.
10:50 I try to make it here every year.
10:54 And when I can't be here, Dave in the past has read some remarks from me.
11:00 You'd think as often as I come here, people say,
11:02 you always look forward to this day.
11:04 Someone said that.
11:05 No one looks forward to this day.
11:08 We all wish we didn't have to have a day like this.
11:11 We wish a year would go by where no one is fallen and
11:16 we don't have to engrave any new names.
11:18 But that's not the world we live in.
11:20 Every year, whether it's because someone had a heart attack in the line of duty,
11:27 because some driver was careless and plowed into a state trooper because they
11:32 weren't paying attention, or because someone just had evil in their hearts and
11:37 they sought out a police officer to unleash it on, every year we come back.
11:42 And we'll keep coming back for
11:47 those people in law enforcement who gave their lives, but also for their families.
11:52 Because when you sign up for a career in law enforcement,
11:56 you realize there are risks associated with it.
11:57 I know that.
12:01 I mean, I was in politics.
12:02 You're gonna take some attacks.
12:05 Not attacks like police officers do, but you'll take some attacks.
12:08 And I'm okay with that.
12:09 But you know who's not okay with that?
12:12 My mother.
12:13 My mother didn't sign up for that.
12:16 And these officers' families didn't sign up for this.
12:21 And that's why we're here today for those officers who fell in the line of duty.
12:26 But I think even more so for their families.
12:28 Because this is a large family when you look around you here.
12:32 You have a lot of people here who want to embrace you, want to support you,
12:39 and several who experience the pain that you're going through as well.
12:42 Law enforcement is like a family, and it often stays in a family.
12:47 Michael Tom was a police officer with the Kankakee Fire Department,
12:52 a police department.
12:53 His grandfather was a constable with that department.
12:56 Two of his children went on to become, well, his son Greg became a police officer.
13:02 His daughter Kathy became a sheriff's deputy.
13:06 Both of them became my godparents.
13:07 And Tom also had a grandson who's now a sheriff's deputy.
13:11 It's something that often stays in a family.
13:15 Your family is larger than just the people who wear the same uniform with you.
13:20 Your family, the people around you here today.
13:23 So although I don't look forward to this day, and I know this day is going to come,
13:29 I want to be here and just sort of share my sympathy with you.
13:32 Words cannot heal.
13:36 Words can't solve these problems.
13:40 But we can try our best to relate and to be helpful.
13:45 And at my office, we want to provide those words, but we want to do more.
13:50 We started a Fallen Heroes Scholarship Program for
13:53 the children of our heroes who died in the line of duty.
13:58 We offer a $2,500 Bright Start Scholarship for all of their children.
14:02 I know at the time of loss, thinking about college may not be,
14:08 may be one of the furthest things from your mind.
14:11 I know that a lot of people in organizations will step forward to help out.
14:14 And I know that some families are afraid to ask for help.
14:18 But I'm here to tell you, we are here to be of assistance.
14:22 If you know a family, and they don't have to claim it right away,
14:25 who has not claimed the scholarship, please let us know.
14:27 It can be used for a university, for a community college, for
14:31 a vocational program, or a technical school.
14:33 It can be used for an apprenticeship.
14:35 We know that the loved one in their life would have looked after them.
14:40 But they were taken away, and sometimes before they had a chance to do that.
14:45 And we want to stand up because we want to be part of your family as well.
14:48 Thank you very much for inviting me back.
14:50 Thank you for allowing me to be part of this service.
14:52 >> [APPLAUSE]
15:00 >> Our next speaker,
15:02 the Illinois comptroller, Suzanne Mendoza.
15:05 >> [APPLAUSE]
15:14 >> Good morning.
15:16 Officers, families, and all of us gathered here today
15:20 to honor the sacrifices of our heroic members of law enforcement.
15:24 I'm sorry for my voice, but I'm actually struggling through a pretty good case of
15:28 pneumonia, so I'm not sure if I can get through my speech, but I'm going to do my
15:34 best, if I can't, I will ask Dave to do me the honor of finishing for me.
15:40 I want to thank the Illinois Police Officers Memorial Committee President,
15:45 former Lieutenant Sangamon County Sheriff Dave Johnson, for your leadership and
15:50 for the invitation to once again join all of you here today.
15:53 It is truly my honor to be here with you.
15:58 Each year, it pains me more and more to see even more families
16:05 join the club that no one ever willingly signs up for, the Gold Star families.
16:13 The sacrifices that our police officers and their loved ones make go unappreciated by
16:18 most.
16:18 Many of you have heard me say before that as the sister of a Chicago police
16:25 detective sergeant who was permanently disabled on the job,
16:29 the gravity of the sacrifices that you all make hit particularly close to home.
16:34 Just a few days ago, I and so many others saw and
16:40 felt the collective broken hearts of Officer Luis Huesca's family
16:46 as they mourned the vicious murder of their young,
16:51 vibrant, kind, and loving son and brother.
16:56 Chicago and Illinois lost one of our very best to one of our very worst.
17:06 My heart breaks for those among us today who, like them,
17:11 are grieving such unfathomable loss.
17:14 To the Preston family, my heart goes out to you.
17:17 [FOREIGN]
17:24 And while it is with a heavy heart that I stand before you today to commemorate
17:29 the bravery of our fallen officers, I wanted to focus my remarks
17:34 on the officers who are thankfully still standing.
17:37 Let me start by saying thank you.
17:41 God bless you.
17:44 May he keep you all safe.
17:45 Each and every one of you puts on the uniform and does so,
17:51 knowing that you might not make it home at the end of your tour of duty,
17:56 sacrificing your life for a perfect stranger.
18:01 That is a sacrifice that is fueled by the greatest type of love.
18:06 Yet too many times we've gathered here after an officer's life
18:12 has been robbed by a perfect monster, fueled by the worst type of hate.
18:19 I'm disgusted by the vilification of our police force.
18:27 This vilification of the very people who are serving and
18:30 protecting us is putting each and every one of you in danger.
18:34 As a society who claims to stand up for goodness,
18:39 we can't continually dehumanize our heroes and
18:44 expect them not to be dehumanized by the worst of society.
18:48 It is wrong to show more concern for the cop killer than for the cop.
18:56 >> [APPLAUSE]
19:06 >> Police are human beings with feelings and families.
19:12 The job does a number on all of them.
19:16 I have talked to police that have pulled dead, mangled bodies from cars.
19:23 Compassionately lied to people as they were dying,
19:28 telling them they were going to be okay.
19:31 Holding their hand, watching as their life fades out.
19:35 Police who've held dying babies, held towels on gunshot wounds,
19:42 or performed CPR on someone even when they knew it wouldn't make a difference,
19:49 just to make their family members feel better.
19:53 I know police who have bought lunch for mentally ill people who hadn't eaten for
19:57 a while.
19:58 Or police who gave breaks and second chances to people who deserve them.
20:04 Police who've let little kids that don't have much sit in their squad and
20:11 pretend they're a cop to make their day a little more special.
20:15 And I know police who've prayed for people they didn't even know because they needed
20:21 it. These are stories the public rarely hears.
20:26 But I know that each and every one of you in uniform understands what I'm talking
20:31 about. Our brave officers run towards danger
20:35 instead of away from it. They do it for us.
20:38 They get shot at, stabbed, spit on, punched, cursed out.
20:44 And who's standing up for them?
20:49 I can't even imagine what that does to you or your heart.
20:51 I know that the dedicated men and women in blue don't put on their uniform every
20:56 day for the amazing pay, the wonderful hours, the missed holidays,
21:03 shortened life expectancy, or suicides.
21:05 They do it because they have a higher calling rooted in love and
21:11 wanting to protect us and their families from the world's horrors.
21:17 They see and take on the worst of the world's problems so
21:20 that we can all pretend that the world is a beautiful and safe place.
21:25 We have them to thank for our comfortable and safe lives.
21:31 So again, thank you, and I love you for it.
21:35 But these officers don't need us to love them.
21:38 They know in this day and age that it is the exception when they are respected,
21:44 much less supported by us, their elected officials.
21:49 What they need is for their elected officials,
21:54 their command, and the public to let them do their jobs.
21:59 >> [APPLAUSE]
22:09 >> To not prevent them from protecting
22:11 the overwhelming number of good people from an overwhelmingly
22:15 number of bad people looking to cause them harm.
22:18 It's time to recalibrate.
22:21 If we truly want to honor our fallen heroes,
22:26 let's commit to honoring those that are living and breathing,
22:30 sacrificing for us in this most noble but thankless job.
22:36 They deserve our utmost respect, our love, and our full support.
22:41 To the men and women in law enforcement here today,
22:46 thank you from the bottom of my heart.
22:47 For what it's worth, I love you and appreciate you.
22:51 May God watch over you.
22:59 Saint Michael protect you.
23:02 And may you always return home safely.
23:07 At the end of your watch.
23:08 >> [APPLAUSE]
23:18 >> I'm sure you're all glad,
23:25 me especially,
23:29 I did not have to stand up and
23:35 finish that for her.
23:41 >> [LAUGH] >> I would not have had the same passion
23:47 that we all know she feels and we all appreciate.
23:50 Our next speaker will be Elizabeth French, family survivor,
24:00 Officer Ella Grace French, Chicago Police Department.
24:03 End of watch, August 7th, 2021, member of Illinois Cops.
24:07 >> [APPLAUSE]
24:17 [BLANK_AUDIO]
24:27 >> Good morning, mothers and fathers, husbands and
24:42 wives, sisters and brothers, children,
24:47 family members, partners, friends of the fallen,
24:53 and all that are here to honor our loved ones.
24:56 We should not be here today.
24:58 When I was asked to speak today, I had two reactions.
25:04 Terror at speaking to all of you, and the honor of being asked.
25:09 The honor won out, but make no mistake, the terror is still there.
25:13 I asked what I should talk about, and
25:16 I was told to just speak from the heart, that I can do.
25:20 Ella came into my life as a foster child at the age of eight months.
25:27 I fell in love immediately.
25:28 Until her adoption was complete,
25:32 I was always afraid that she would be taken from me.
25:34 29 years later, she was taken from me, and
25:40 in a way that I never could have imagined.
25:42 Ella was an outgoing, independent, and loving child, but always a bit of a drama
25:49 queen.
25:51 As you parents here know, the years fly by quickly.
25:55 Ella's years with me were a blur of school homework and projects, brownies,
25:59 altar serving, different sports, although the child did not have an athletic bone in
26:05 her body, sleepovers, birthday parties, family vacations, on and on and on.
26:10 As she completed high school, and I refer to those as the challenge years,
26:15 she decided on law enforcement as a career.
26:19 I certainly did not see that coming, but with her outgoing personality and
26:24 her inclination to help people, it started to make sense to me.
26:29 It was a bit of a winding road to reach her goal, but
26:33 in 2018, she became a Chicago police officer.
26:37 I was so proud of her.
26:39 On August 7th of 2021,
26:42 the day that I feared when she was a foster child happened.
26:46 [COUGH]
26:50 She was taken from me, and my life changed forever.
26:56 Since Ella's death, I have learned a few lessons.
27:00 The first lesson I learned is only two words, and that is that grief sucks.
27:05 Another lesson that I learned,
27:08 I will never forget Ella on that metal table that night.
27:14 But that loss was not the worst feeling in the world.
27:18 Missing her every day for the rest of my life is much, much worse than that.
27:24 When Ella became a Chicago police officer, I knew that she had joined a family.
27:32 But another thing that I have learned since her death is how amazing a family
27:36 the Chicago Police Department, all law enforcement and first responders really are.
27:41 The love and support that I have received has given me the strength to move forward
27:47 and is something that I will never be able to repay.
27:53 But you should know another lesson that I have learned.
27:56 So many people from all walks of life have reached out to tell me
28:02 that the service of men and women in law enforcement is appreciated.
28:07 You are supported and you are loved.
28:10 Please take pride in yourselves and your commitment to make the communities that
28:15 you serve a safer place for all the people that live in them.
28:20 Ella was a member of your blue family.
28:23 She was you and you are her.
28:26 A police officer gave me a poem that she wrote after Ella's death.
28:32 There is a lesson in her words that I would like to share with you.
28:36 The title of the poem is called She Was Me.
28:40 People ask me if I knew her.
28:44 I shake my head, but then I think, yes, I knew her.
28:49 I knew her because she was me.
28:51 She was me when she put on her uniform each day, proud to serve the city she loved.
28:59 She was me when she kissed her family goodbye,
29:02 trying not to think that it could be the last time.
29:05 She was me when she sat in roll call, wondering what her tour would bring.
29:11 She was me when she drove to a job, lights and sirens blaring with heart thumping.
29:18 She was me when she held an injured child, praying that the innocent would survive.
29:24 She was me when she taped up another scene, stoic but
29:29 sickened by the violence that she viewed.
29:32 She was me when despite her fear,
29:34 she entered a building not knowing what waited inside.
29:37 She was me when she breathed a sigh of relief
29:43 on the drive home after yet another long night.
29:48 But on August 7th, 2021, she did not get to go home,
29:53 and the darkness took away the light.
29:56 You ask me if I knew her.
30:00 Yes, I did, because she was me.
30:03 Sometimes I hear words in a song that express how I'm thinking and
30:12 feeling much better than I can.
30:15 The final lesson I wanna share with you is echoed in the words of a song by
30:18 the rock band Bread, for those of you that are here that are old enough to remember
30:23 them, they know how we feel.
30:26 I would give anything I own.
30:30 I'd give up my life, my heart, my home.
30:34 I would give everything I own just to have you back again.
30:42 Nobody else could ever know the part of me that can't let go.
30:47 Is there someone you know, you're loving them so, but taking them all for granted?
30:55 You may lose them one day, someone takes them away, and
31:00 they don't hear the words that you long to say.
31:08 And so, I ask the women and men here to encourage and support one another.
31:14 Let the people that you serve with know how much you appreciate them.
31:19 And I ask you, all of you, to tell your loved ones how much you love them every day.
31:27 I am forever grateful that my last words to Ella were I love you.
31:32 God bless you all.
31:35 Be careful and be safe.
31:37 >> [APPLAUSE]
31:47 >> Our next speaker, Officer Mike Ostrowski,
32:04 Chicago Police Department, retired.
32:07 Survivor, affected co-worker, Illinois Police Officers Memorial Committee member.
32:33 >> When you think there's no hope, you just saw it, you just heard it.
32:38 Switching things up a little bit because when you stand and
32:43 you watch strength, courage in front of you, you better speak up.
32:48 I'm speaking up.
32:51 I had two friends in the academy that went through with me, they're Marines.
33:01 They were similar in size, different in color,
33:05 until they walked through the academy and they became blue as one.
33:08 The humor, the leadership they extolled out there.
33:14 James O'Connor and James Camp, tremendous individuals.
33:19 They helped their classmates day in and day out with the struggles they're going through.
33:27 They gave hope to their classmates who wanted to give up.
33:32 They all graduated together.
33:34 There's something more to the uniform and it just happens,
33:42 all of you are behind me so you can see the uniforms in front of you.
33:45 Nice sharp uniforms, nice sharp stars, there's more to it.
33:51 What makes that uniform click is the individual inside.
33:56 That's a human being with heart and drive.
33:59 Those classmates of mine, they were gone in three years.
34:06 The laughter was silenced.
34:10 However, with the hope, we can't let the laughter die.
34:16 We'll go on.
34:19 Their names are etched in the wall behind me, but their spirit is etched in our souls.
34:27 When we speak of courage, you gotta stand up.
34:30 You gotta point it out.
34:32 The National Football League just had a draft.
34:34 Read all this stuff about, yeah, this guy could do this, this guy could do that.
34:40 He's got heart, he's got drive, he can make that goal line.
34:42 Those owners don't know anything.
34:48 We have young people here.
34:51 They don't know anything.
34:53 You wanna see heart, you wanna see drive?
34:56 Elizabeth French, right here in front of you.
34:59 Mary Ann Blair, Gloria Bodner,
35:04 right in front of us, the Preston family, the Lasso family.
35:12 It takes a lot.
35:13 Your hearts are crushed, but you show the drive to be here, the heart to be here.
35:21 The example for all of us to keep moving forward.
35:24 As a Chicago Police Department Honor Guard member,
35:30 I got to see what real heroes are.
35:34 They're not our athletes, far from it.
35:38 They're our gold star families.
35:41 The heart and the drive.
35:43 Once a year in April in Chicago, at Chicago Police Memorial,
35:53 where there's 600 names of officers,
35:56 they didn't make the sacrifice their lives were stolen from.
35:59 They were ripped away.
36:02 We go from 12 o'clock midnight, so I give them the 12 o'clock midnight.
36:12 24 hour stand, similar to what they do in Arlington at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
36:18 Once in Ontario, going back and forth.
36:22 I had my first stand going out.
36:24 The winds were strong.
36:25 They were blowing me around a little bit, and I'm not exactly a small guy.
36:28 As I hit my point, I could see the winds were grabbing the water off our waterfall
36:36 and the basin and tossing it across where I was to march through.
36:40 As I began my march, the skies opened up and it began to rain.
36:49 Rain drops the size of footballs.
36:51 When I hit my corner, I was drenched.
36:55 Got halfway through, that sense of humor, that presence of all those 600
37:04 just ripped over me because the sprinklers cut on it.
37:09 You think wet is wet, and then there's more wet.
37:14 And then there was a beam of light that came through, lightning.
37:19 Lit up the ground, and I could feel this rolling thunder,
37:23 that quiet rolling thunder that hits you all of a sudden and makes your bones rattle.
37:28 Got to the side, I could see there was an opening in the sky
37:33 where there were a couple of stars that were shining.
37:35 The storm was over.
37:36 And this is for all of you in uniform.
37:41 The political winds will blow you around.
37:48 However, because of who you are and what you stand for,
37:53 you will keep moving forward.
37:54 You will get drenched with criticism and insults,
38:01 but because of who you are and what you stand for, you will keep moving forward.
38:06 That rolling thunder you feel, that's these Gold Star families with you.
38:13 The support is there.
38:16 Organizations like Concerns of Police Survivors,
38:19 Chicago Police Memorial, and the 100 Club of Illinois, they got your back.
38:26 And up high, make no mistake, that opening in the sky, that's all of you.
38:37 You are the brightness in the storm.
38:40 You are looking down upon us.
38:44 I thank you.
38:45 I thank God.
38:47 God bless all of you.
38:49 God bless America.
38:50 >> [APPLAUSE]
39:13 >> Okay, the Survivors Prayer,
39:14 which you can find in your program if you'd like to follow around along,
39:18 will be read by Officer Mike Matti, Oak Brook Police Department,
39:22 Survivor Affected Coworker, Sergeant Marlene Ritmanick,
39:26 Bradley Police Department, End of Watch, December 30th, 2021.
39:31 Illinois Police Officers Memorial Committee Member and
39:33 the Vice President of Illinois Cops.
39:35 >> [APPLAUSE]
39:44 >> Good and gracious God,
39:46 we are survivors seeking healing from our broken hearts and our broken spirits.
39:52 We are survivors seeking understanding in something that is incomprehensible.
39:58 We are survivors seeking in an inconsolable situation.
40:04 We are survivors seeking faith where our faith is being challenged and tested.
40:11 We are survivors seeking hope where all seems hopeless.
40:15 We are survivors seeking love, a love that has been taken from us,
40:22 yet we desperately cling to it.
40:23 We are survivors seeking peace, peace in the knowledge that our loved one
40:30 is with you, and that one day we will find peace in our hearts.
40:36 Lord, we thank you for your love and for the bond we survivors share.
40:42 We find strength in you and in one another.
40:45 Dear Lord, travel with us on our journey of healing.
40:49 We pray that in the power and love and
40:54 through each other, we will find all that we seek.
40:57 Amen.
40:59 >> [APPLAUSE]
41:07 >> Okay, I'm gonna give out the warning
41:12 that after Amazing Grace is played by the combined pipes and drums,
41:19 there will be live gunfire.
41:21 So just our youngest attendees and
41:25 some of us that are still kind of squeamish about things,
41:28 there will be live gunfire afterwards.
41:30 I'd ask that someone help escort the constitutional officers
41:33 down to the front of the stage for the presentation.
41:36 At this time, I'd like to introduce our reader, Dr.
41:41 Adrian Murphy, Treasurer, Illinois Police Officers Memorial Committee.
41:45 >> [APPLAUSE]
41:55 >> The 2024 historic nominees include
42:00 Officer John Francis Kane, Cicero Police Department,
42:06 end of watch, November 12th, 1910.
42:10 Sheriff Ray Boston, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office,
42:19 end of watch, July 23rd, 1947.
42:25 [BLANK_AUDIO]
42:35 [BLANK_AUDIO]
42:45 [BLANK_AUDIO]
42:55 [BLANK_AUDIO]
43:05 Deputy Sheriff Andrew H Sloan,
43:19 Sankamon County Sheriff's Office, end of watch, January 2nd, 1951.
43:27 [BLANK_AUDIO]
43:31 Detective Todd C.
43:34 Giller Lane, Chicago Police Department, end of watch, May 7th, 2020.
43:41 [BLANK_AUDIO]
43:46 The 2024 honorees include Officer Andres Mauricio Vasquez Lasso,
43:55 Chicago Police Department, end of watch, March 1st, 2023.
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45:20 Officer Ariana Michaela Preston,
45:25 Chicago Police Department, end of watch, May 6th, 2023.
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52:18 >> Go ahead and be seated.
52:20 That will conclude this year's ceremony.
52:23 As an announcement, the buses will be leaving here right around 1220.
52:28 I won't call for them until about 1215.
52:30 That gives you time to look at the memorial some more,
52:35 find your family's names on there, and relax for a little bit.
52:40 So at this time, I'd like to say thank you to all who have attended.
52:44 [BLANK_AUDIO]
52:47 To my brothers and sisters, still on the job, stay safe.
52:52 Make it back home again.
52:54 To our families, we gather here the first Thursday of every year,
53:00 not to honor how your loved ones died, but to honor how they lived their lives.
53:06 That is their true mark and what they should be remembered for.
53:11 So once again, thank you very much for being here.
53:14 And I'll see most of you back at the Northfield again.
53:18 Thank you.
53:19 [BLANK_AUDIO]