Page 34 - August 2016 Newsletter

When tragedy strikes, Chicago police o cers know how to make Blue Lives Matter in the way that matters most
rom Dallas to Baton Rouge to Kansas City to Berrien County, Michigan, Chicago police officers responded to fallen brothers the way CPD officers do: with support, action, compassion, strength and going the distance. But you all real- ly went the proverbial extra mile by
gathering at the FOP Hall on July 20. Four days after the last of the five funerals for officers slaughtered in Dallas and three days after another mass tragedy struck in Baton Rouge, more than 500 officers and their loved ones came to the Lodge to give it up for the dozen-plus brothers lost in the line of duty in July. The magnif- icent men and women of the Broth- erhood for the Fallen put out this call to come to a fundraiser for the fallen
officers’ families.
Members responded by bringing a
case of cold ones as their admission. Home Run Inn donated enough piz- zas to feed a District as it has done in the past to support Brotherhood fundraisers. And one-by-one, offi- cers put dollar after dollar into a fund that sent thousands to offer bene- fits to the families of the fallen and wounded officers in those Dallas and Baton Rouge tragedies.
“We put out the call and everybody responded like in a second,” Broth- erhood for the Fallen President and Lodge 7 Member Rick Caballero re-
vealed. “People started coming and they kept coming. We were getting text messages from all over the coun- try. Even the mayor showed up.”
The response by Chicago police officers to the upsetting July con- tributed to the nationally resilien- cy from law enforcement that truly showed “The difference between us and them.” Certainly there were re- minders and illustrations that “Blue Lives Matter” and “I stand with you in Blue” at every turn on the journey from Chicago to Dallas, Baton Rouge,
Kansas City and Michigan that you officers made. The feeling of “We Are Blue! To A Depth They Will Nev- er Know” was only furthered during this unprecedented month.
And the details of this response, why so many wanted to be part of it and what they witnessed along the way can confirm for all in blue that “Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they shall be the children of God.”
Acts of Brotherhood
The Brotherhood for the Fallen was founded to stand with blue and does so to a depth that many will never know. The organization’s re- sponse in July followed what it does so well to bring the honor of officers from Chicago and around the coun- try by attending every funeral for a line of duty death.
So while many of his members were part of the details that went to Dallas and Baton Rouge, Caballero was part of the team that travelled to Kansas City for the funeral of Kansas City, Kansas Police Captain Robert Melton, who was ambushed on July 19. And the Brotherhood went the extra mile by hosting Emily Crawford Thompson, the wife of Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Officer Brent Thompson, one of the five cops killed in the Dallas attack.
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CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ AUGUST 2016 33