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Lodge 7 Gets the Call of Duty Ride to Remember honoring fallen officers stops at Chicago FOP
n BY KAREN JENKINS
These fallen officers are not just numbers. That is the main message J.C. Shah wants to convey: Every fallen officer has a name, a family and a story.
“They are brothers, sisters, dads, moms, aunts, husbands, wives, and I wanted to just make everyone aware of who they were and who is being affected,” Shah affirmed. “[I wanted to] let the departments know that we’re not going to forget their fallen and let the survivors know we’re not going to forget their loved ones.”
Shah has been running Beyond the Call of Duty, which sup- ports survivors with its annual Ride to Remember. On Aug. 5, traffic stopped and officers marveled when Beyond the Call of Duty visited Chicago Lodge 7. The trailer, adorned with photos of every fallen officer from 2020 — including Chicago brothers Marco DiFranco, Ronald Newman, Clifford Martin and Titus Moore — parked on Washington Street in front of the Lodge, where members gathered and Chaplain Rabbi Moshe Wolf led a rousing ceremony.
The Ride to Remember traveled more than 22,000 miles by motorcycle for a three-month-long tour throughout the coun- try. During the trip, the group pulls a trailer with photos of those they are honoring and visits the departments of every fallen of- ficer from the previous year.
Beyond the Call of Duty’s first Ride to Remember happened in 2020 with 12 participants. This summer, they began with 12 and picked up survivors to join them throughout the journey.
“We were blessed with survivors that we met last year and wanted to be part of what we did,” Shah explained. “I mean, the impact we’ve made with them was so powerful that they stayed in contact with us and said they wanted to come.”
In 2021, Beyond the Call of Duty was able to honor 339 offi- cers nationwide.
“Whether it is 300 strong or 400 strong, we’re going to keep the memories alive of who the person was and what they did that affected the community,” Shah expressed. “[We also re- member] how they affected the agency itself. These are good agencies that use good men and women.”
Shah’s desire to create this organization goes back at least a decade. Throughout his 20 years on the job, serving primarily in Washington, D.C., before retiring in 2017, he had been to count- less line-of-duty funerals. During those experiences, he felt a deep desire to let the partners, agencies and families of the fall- en know that they would never be forgotten.
42 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ SEPTEMBER 2021
Chicago Police Chaplain Rabbi Moshe Wolf conducts a ceremony outside Lodge 7 to honor fallen officers as the Beyond the Call of Duty ride visits Chicago on Aug. 5.
The Chicago Police Department Pipes and Drums plays during the Beyond the Call of Duty visit to Lodge 7.
The Beyond the Call of Duty trailer shows photos of all officers lost in the line of duty in 2020.
When he retired, Shah worked on small remembrance events locally until his wife encouraged him to pursue his dream of creating Beyond the Call of Duty.
“My wife said, ‘OK, make it happen,’” he recalled. “‘You’ve been talking about this for years.’ And she said, ‘Just put it to- gether and make it happen.’”