Page 53 - October Newsletter

Hundreds turn out for vigil to remember the fallen
n BY DAN CAMPANA
Flashing a smile that some say remind them of her father, Nao- mi Taylor spoke with poise as she recalled being just 5 years old when Officer Nathaniel Taylor Jr. died in the line of duty in 2008.
“I remember crying nonstop for a week and trying to figure out how long death lasted,” Naomi told an audience of several hun- dred people during the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation’s annual Gold Star Reception. Her address led off the proceedings, which also featured the Chicago Police Department’s 14th annual Candlelight Vigil during a pleasant mid-September night on the city’s lakefront.
Held at the Gold Star Memorial Park just outside Soldier Field, the vigil offered a time for reflection as the names of Chicago’s 578 fallen police officers were read to the assembled audience of sev- eral hundred people. Blue glow sticks illuminated the gathering as pictures of the fallen officers were prominently displayed along a sidewalk leading to the park’s water wall.
Prior to the vigil, CPMF hosted approximately 600 Gold Star Family members during a reception inside the United Club at Sol- dier Field. Officer Martin Hernandez talked in support of CPMF’s Get Behind the Vest campaign, as he described a May incident in which his life was saved by a bulletproof vest after a drug suspect opened fire.
Naomi Taylor thanked the foundation for being a part of her life in ways that her father no longer can. She is a freshman at De La Salle High School, where thanks to the foundation’s financial support, Taylor can receive the education her father always want- ed her to have.
While she kidded about how her father tried to coax her into eating lima beans, Naomi poignantly called him a hero in a video tribute.
“My dad was a loving, protective and humorous person,” she said. “The ultimate father.”
Since 2007, CPMF has provided approximately $8.8 million in financial assistance to the families of officers killed or catastroph- ically injured in the line of duty. d
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