A few us us hopped on the bikes and rode to Georgetown to grab a coffee and a bite to eat before doing a little two-wheeled sight-seeing.
We rode along the C&O Canal tow path for a bit.
Needing to drop a bike in Arlington, we took a spin by the Air Force Memorial
On the way back to the District, I stopped by the Pentagon Memorial.
Each of the 184 cantilevered benches carries the name of a passenger or crew member killed on 9/11 when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon.
The Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial
I ended up back at the Law Enforcement Memorial where the closeness of the law enforcement community was re-affirmed for me. One of the people I rode for in 2006 was Jeff Christensen. As I went by his name on the wall, someone was doing a rubbing of the name above Jeff's, Jason Pratt. One of the party doing the rubbing had a Lincoln Nebraska shirt on, so I asked if he knew one of the Detectives in my unit who had been an Officer in Lincoln...of course he did. As I made my way further along the wall, a woman was weeping at the name of James Ballman. She was his mother and wanted to know why it hurt so much to see his name etched in stone. She had hoped that 15 months would have helped ease the pain. James was one of two Kirkwood MO Officers killed in Feb, 2008 when a gunman opened fire at a city council meeting. The husband of another Detective I work with had served with both of them before moving to Colorado.
No visit to DC during Police Week would be complete without a visit to "the pit" where just about anything police related can be bought or traded. A lot of guys were really impressed with this car.
Sight-seeing complete, I cleaned up to serve as a survivor escort.
133 Officers were killed in the line of duty in 2008. The lowest number of deaths since 1960. 133 too many, but still nice to have a drop following last year's high numbers.
The crowd filled the square as candles were lit in honor of the fallen.
The candles were then raised as the thin blue line spread across the sky.
The ceremony concluded with a roll call of the fallen. 387 new names were added to the wall, 133 from 2008 and 254 historical deaths. Pueblo's Chief and I stood by Nick Heine's family as the Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, read the names of the Colorado Officers:
Blackhawk Police Officer Robert A. Clark
Pueblo Police Officer Nicholas Karl Heine
Rocky Ford City Marshall Jesse B. Craig, Sr.
Rocky Ford Night Marshall Jacob Andrew Kipper
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