WHAT: Memorial service honoring fallen officers
WHEN: Wednesday, May 15
TIME: 7 p.m.
LOCATION: East Naples United Methodist Church, 2701 Airport-Pulling Road S., East Naples
SUMMARY: A memorial service and candlelight vigil will honor local law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
All fallen law enforcement officers from Collier County will be honored by the county’s three law enforcement agencies – Collier County Sheriff’s Office, Naples Police Department and Marco Island Police Department - during the nighttime vigil.
The public is invited to attend.
Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk will deliver the welcome as well as the memorial address and closing remarks. Sheriff Rambosk will be joined by Naples Chief of Police Tom Weschler and Marco Island Chief of Police Don Hunter in the lighting of the vigil candles in memory of the fallen officers.
While the Harp and Thistle Pipe Band performs “Amazing Grace,” family members of fallen officers will be invited to light a candle and place flowers on the table in honor of their loved one. Chief Weschler will assist.
Manuel “Manny” Gonzalez, a retired special agent with the U.S. Department of Treasury, is the scheduled guest speaker.
Chief Hunter will lead the Pledge of Allegiance.
Cpl. Evan Burd will sing the National Anthem. Pastor Sheila Zellers, a Christian recording artist and a radio and television host, will perform a musical tribute.
The service will also feature the presentation of colors by the CCSO, NPD and MIPD Honor Guard, a last radio call by the CCSO Communications Bureau, and taps by the CCSO Honor Guard.
The service is one of many commemorative events taking place throughout the country during National Law Enforcement Memorial Week 2013.
Communities across the U.S. will come together May 12-19 to honor and remember those law enforcement officers who made the ultimate sacrifice, as well as the family members, friends and fellow officers they left behind.
On average, one law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty somewhere in the United States every 57 hours. Since the first known line-of-duty death in 1791, more than 19,000 U.S. law enforcement officers have made the ultimate sacrifice, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund website.
Each May new names are added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial walls.
In 2013, the names of 321 officers who died in the line of duty during the previous calendar year, as well as officers who were killed earlier in history but whose line-of-duty sacrifices only recently came to light, are being added to the Memorial, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund website.
The Unveiling Day ceremony is an event held each spring to symbolically commemorate the service and sacrifice of all of the men and women who have given their lives for the safety and protection of others, the website states.
The following CCSO members will never be forgotten:
In Memoriam:
Deputy W.B. Richardson
Deputy William Irwin
Deputy William E. Hutto
Deputy Maurice Eugene Anglin
Investigator Arthur Allen Amos
Cpl. Amedicus “Med’ Quincy Howell III
Cpl. Mark Caperton
Sgt. Roy Arthur Williams
Sgt. Joe Nathan Jones
Deputy Raul “Rudy” Dimas Sr.
Click here to read the public invitation.
