Page 47 - December 2018

Honoring a Hero
NYPD Detective Matthew McCluskey made the trip as part of his Brotherhood for the Fallen chapter.
“It really is like a blind lottery every night. You never know what you’re getting or what you’re getting into. There’s no assurances that every job is going to be safe,” he explained. “It’s important for us to honor the people who are doing the same jobs no matter where you are in the country. The job’s essentially the same. We show there’s solidarity and support for one another, no matter which agency or department you work for.”
Added Waukesha Police Officer Luke Courtier, “We all have the same goal when we go to work...it is to come home. When one of us doesn’t, we all have the right to honor them.”
For some, such as Johnson County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Lan- genberg from Iowa, weather and distance would not prevent him and most of his colleagues from making the trip. They left Iowa City at 5 a.m. to attend the services, which took place the morning after a blizzard slammed Chicago and the suburbs, making travel tricky.
“I said to someone back home that I didn’t know Officer Jimenez, but yet, he was my brother. I think all of us standing here right now feel the same way. When he died, a part of us died as well,” Langen- berg shared. “We argue with each other from time to time, but we’re all one big family.”
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