After the ride is complete, the work for the PUT riders is just about to begin. Officers from the PUT don their dress uniforms and serve as escorts for the survivors as they arrive at the Memorial for the Candlelight Vigil. This year, 325 names were added to the memorial, 116 from 2009 and 208 from previous years.
This year was the first year I did not serve as an escort Officer, but Colorado was still well represented. Though I missed escorting survivors this year, I did get to spend more time with David Kinterknecht's family before the vigil started. During the vigil, we heard from National Law Enforcement Memorial Chairman Craig Floyd, Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, National C.O.P.S. President Jennifer Thacker and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr.
Among his remarks, the Attorney General said the following, which is consistent with the Police Unity Tour goal of honoring and remembering Officers killed in the line of duty:
"...I raise these numbers – 20,000, 325, 209, 116 – not as measures of loss, but as reminders of how dangerously easy it can be to reduce fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, children and colleagues and friends, to statistics. That’s why we must cling to our memories – of their bravery, their generosity, their laughter, their passion and their stories. And that’s why we now celebrate their lives by adding their names to this place of honor. ..."
After the candles were extinguished, we joined the Kinterknecht family for the final roll call. As the reader came to Colorado, we stood at attention to honor his memory as David Kinterknecht's name was read.
Through the ride we had cold, wind, rain, more cold, rogue deer, heat and humidity. None of it was as hard as watching the chain reaction of sobbing that was started by David's youngest when her Father's name was read.
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