Page 31 - November 2020

Salute to
SERVICE
Make Their Day
In this Veterans Day tribute, we honor what serving in the military has meant to Chicago Police Officers
n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
When the call came of a couple being held against their will in an apartment in 025, Michael Miedona and his partner knew there was no question they were going in. In hindsight, they should have called SWAT, but there didn’t seem to be enough time.
Another beat car pulled up, and they readied to respond. They anticipated that the man had a gun and some kind of bar- ricade working.
“I’m like, ‘Guys, I just want to remind you. It could get real in there,’” Miedona recalls.
For this Veterans Day tribute, it would not be too dramatic or emotional to analogize how this response cast an “in the heat of battle” or “on the front lines” sensation. After all, Miedona has been in the Air Force for the same 13 years he has been on the De- partment.
Accordingly, a confidence and calm endured because Miedona’s partner was a Marine Corps veter- an. And their backup there in the hall outside the apartment includ- ed officers who had served in the Army and Navy, respectively.
“I looked around and realized all the military branches are here,” Miedona adds. “When things got real, we were able to fall back on our training, and the way we communicate, you know, led to apprehending the guy. I think it reminded us how the amount of training and experience the military provides is an invaluable asset to the Department.”
If you ask any of the active and retired Lodge 7 members pictured on the pages that follow this story – or the thousands of other Chicago Police Officers who have served in the military – they might
insist this tribute should remind the De- partment of the powerful asset it has in its veterans.
It’s also a tribute to the women and men who volunteered to serve their country, then volunteered again to serve their city.
And it’s a tribute to a special brand of dedication and commitment that makes every response to every call a mission in which failure is not an op- tion.
And it’s an opportunity to salute the military mentality that fills the Depart- ment with women and men who be- lieve that not serving is not an option.
“My biggest takeaway from the mil- itary is the sense of purpose,” explains
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CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ NOVEMBER 2020 31
Luis Rivera