Ceremony honors fallen heroes' sacrifice

Members of law enforcement live daily with the risk that a fatal ambush could lurk around the next corner – knowledge that motivates them to ensure that those who have lost their lives in the line of duty are never forgotten.

Cpl. Wayne Johnson of the Chester County Sheriff's Office sings the national anthem. To his right is Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan. On Johnson's left is Donna Dunn, president of the Lodge No. 11 auxiliary.

On Thursday, May 12, a crowd of more than a hundred, including officers, retired officers, deputy sheriffs, lawmakers, public officials and members of the public, gathered at the Chester County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 11 in downtown West Chester. Their somber task: honoring those who continue to inspire gratitude for their ultimate sacrifice.

The ceremony occurs once a year, during National Police Week. It opened with a presentation of colors by the Chester County Sheriff’s Department Honor Guard and included an invocation by Paul Ferguson, FOP Lodge No. 11’s chaplain; several musical tributes; a rifle salute; and solemn observations from a handful of speakers.

Welcoming the audience, Chester County Detective Harold “Butch” Dutter, the FOP Lodge No. 11 president, noted that 128 police officers across the county lost their lives in the line of duty in 2015, and 35 have died in action so far this year. “One officer killed is one too many,” he said.

West Goshen Township Police Chief Joseph Gleason addresses the crowd.

State FOP President Les Neri said the memorial service offers an opportunity to express gratitude to the families of the officers and let them know that their loved ones’ selfless actions would never be forgotten. “We will forever stand with you,” he said.

Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said he was inspired by a woman’s recent question about whether he feared for his safety, given the criminals he’s jailed. He said he decided to wear a ballistic police vest to the memorial as a reminder of the risks officers face on the job – putting them “in a thousand times more danger than I will ever be as district attorney.”

West Goshen Township Police Chief Joseph Gleason underscored that point by focusing on one of the more recent deaths in Virginia: that of Prince William County Police Officer Ashley Guindon on Feb. 27, the day after she took the oath of office. Gleason pointed out that she had been on the job for an hour and a half and was responding to her first call, a domestic disturbance.

The Chester County Sheriff's Department's Honor Guard retires the colors at the end of the memorial service.

As Guindon and two colleagues arrived at the scene, they were met with gunfire. Guindon died at the scene, as did the shooter’s wife, who had been killed before police arrived. Guindon’s colleagues were both wounded, Gleason said. He pointed out that very few professions ask people to lay down their life, calling officers ”the barrier between anarchy and order.”

Rev. Jack Crans, who has served as the chaplain for the Chester County Prison since 1973, said he believes Chester County is special. “You can’t find too many counties where the [police] chiefs are asking for chaplains,” he said. And although he believes “we live in a dangerous time,” he said some of the interactions he’s seen give him hope for the future.

Donna Dunn, president of the Lodge No. 11 auxiliary, read the names of Chester County’s nine fallen heroes. They spanned a wide time frame – from 1887 when Benjamin Irey, a sheriff on his way to serve court papers was fatally struck by a train, to 1988 when Parkesburg Officer Douglas H. Pyle died in a motorcycle crash on the way back from a training program. A memorial at the Chester County FOP Lodge No. 11 contains their names.

Standing at a podium in front of the memorial for Chester County's fallen officers, Steve Plaugher, past president of FOP Lodge No. 11, concludes the program.

Chester County Commissioner Kathi Cozzone said she views the ceremony as an important way to express gratitude to law enforcement. She said the county is committed to providing key resources, such as the Chester County Public Safety Training Campus. “But this is another way to show our support,” she said.

Former District Attorney Joseph W. Carroll said that even though he left office in 2011, he returns to the memorial service annually because he values the job that police do. “I just want to show my continued support for everything they do for my family and the community,” he said.

Bill Chesko, who had a 27-year police career, can identify with that sentiment. Even though he retired more than a decade ago from the West Chester Police Department, he said he attends the memorial whenever he can. “These guys back each other up every day,” he said. “It’s important to show support.”