PAX Centurion - January / February 2015

Page 28 • PAX CENTURION • January/February 2015 617-989-BPPA (2772) With a heavy heart and a note of thanks By Mark A. Bruno O ur recent visits to NewYork City to honor two “fallen heroes” was as sad as you could imagine. We may not know the officers who passed but we feel a deep bond none-the-less. It is like loosing a family member as all officers in at- tendance would tell you. The “brother and sisterhood” in our profes- sion stretches far and wide when we loose a member. The sea of blue stretching up as far as the eye can see up these long streets of New York City was most impressive and heartfelt by the slain officers families. There were officers who came down from Canada and oth- ers from as far as Washington State, California and all the way down to Florida. The numbers were staggering, as many as twenty-five- thousand officers on hand to pay their respects for two fallen com- rades. I will not go into the Mayor of NewYork and the lack of effort on most of our elected officials who could have circumvented this hostile attitude towards police in the wake of two Grand Jury findings of not guilty. I will only say their silence was deafening. I had the honor of attending the service of Officer Wenjian Liu who was promoted posthumously to Detective by Chief William Bratton. Bratton said “Wenjian Liu believed in the possibility of a city free from fear.” Listening to his wife speak was heartbreaking. Pei Xia Chen spoke of how he loved life and was always helping people. She spoke of how he loved and respected his parents. Her voice quivered as she thankedWenjian’s extended family, the NYPD, and all the Officers who came to pay tribute to her husband. When the service ended a cortege which went a half mile in each direction of the church paid tribute to the “fallen hero.” NYPD helicopters formed the “missing man formation” overhead, while drums played solemnly as the procession rolled by and officers rendered a final salute to Detective Wenjian Liu. There are so many people and businesses to thank for assisting of- ficers who attended the two funerals. I will try to get them all in but if I don’t kindly drop me a line or leave a message at the BPPA. First up is JetBlue who flew many officers from around the country free of charge into JFKAirport. It may have been well over one-thousand flights. I believe Boston Police had as many as one- hundred-fifty officers who flew roundtrip for free. With that being said we would like to give special thanks to JetBlue executives Jim Hnat, Senior Vice-President and Chief Corporate Counsel, and Jill Chaston from Group Reservations. Thank you also to the booking agents, flight attendants and pilot crews who expressed their sorrow and thanked officers for their service.You can not put a price on this type of kindness, you can only say thank you from the men in women in blue. How apropos it would be JetBlue. Thank you to the following hotels for putting up officers at a dis- counted rate. They are the Sheraton and Hilton Garden located at JFK Airport, the Marriott at theWorld Trade Center, and the Hampton Inn located on FlatbushAve. in Brooklyn. Thank you to the following officers and their departments who helped all our armed officers to get on and off the planes, and provided rides to and from the funeral. Chief Horace Norville and Officer John Byron of NYPD. Captain WilliamKaufman of the New York City Department of Corrections. To Boston Police Captain Kelley McCormick, Com- mander of AreaA-7, for helping to book most of the flights and getting officers trained so they could fly armed, and for leading the contingent of Boston Police during the funeral. To the Bos- ton Police Detective’s Benevolent Association members Sergeant Detective Michael Talbot and Detective Danny Conboy who drove their food truck down to NewYork City which helped to feed many officers. Sergeant Detective Joe Sullivan and several other individuals helped to dish out soups and sandwiches to officers during the two funerals. A special thank you to Roger Berkowitz of Legal Seafood who provided three thousand bowls of clam chowder for the two funerals. Thank all the fine restaurants and establishments that opened up their doors in NewYork to help feed our members. Thank all those food trucks and companies that provided the food and drinks for our officers. Thank you to the BPPA for providing the busses which took many of our members down to NewYork City for the events. Finally, a spe- cial thank you to all our members of the Boston Police Department who attended both funerals.