Page 35 - May 2018 FOP Magazine

Illinois Police Officers Memorial
Chicago Police Officers Brian Collins (third from left) and Kurt Garwisch (second from right) served as guard- ians of the wreaths honoring fallen officers from 2017 at the Illinois Police Officers Memorial.
Soul Survivor
Detective Robert Hehl’s story of recovering from losing his wife in the line of duty inspires families of the fallen and all officers at the state police memorial
n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
n PHOTOS BY NICK SWEDBERG
Oct. 30, 1997 began like any other day for Chicago Police Offi- cer Robert Hehl. He woke up at 5 a.m. and reported to the CPD marine unit. Everything was the same...until it wasn’t.
While half-listening to the radio, Hehl heard a news report that an Illinois State Police Helicopter Air One had crashed at Frankfort Airport. That report triggered a number of frantic calls to various ISP facilities in hopes that his wife and best friend, Trooper Erin Hehl, who was assigned to the air patrol, was not aboard.
Robert went home, and that knock on the door that no police spouse ever wants to get came. Two troopers and the ISP chap- lain appeared to let Hehl know that Erin would come home no more.
“As the reality set in, I felt as if my blood drained and I be- came ice cold,” Hehl described.
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Retired Chicago Police Detective Robert Hehl, who lost his wife in the line of duty, served as the survivor speaker at the memorial ceremony.
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ MAY 2018 35