CHICAGO (WLS) — The Saint Jude Chicago Police League held a march Sunday morning, honoring the fallen officers, and their families, one day after another Chicago police officer was shot and killed.
It was the 91st annual memorial march.
It descends at 8 a.m. along the lakeshore and travels from Museums Campus Drive to Waldron Drive, where the Gold Star Memorial is located.
The names of nearly 600 officers who died are inscribed on the memorial.
Special honors are expected to be given to the officers who have lost their lives in the service of the city over the past year.
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson attended, and, by 8 a.m., there was a tide and former Chicago police officers gathered near Soldier Field.
CPD Officer Areanah Preston, 24, was shot and killed near his home after work Saturday morning.
Prosecutors say Steven Montano, 18, shot and killed 32-year-old Chicago Police Officer Andres Vazquez Lasso after police responded to a domestic disturbance in Gage Park on March 1.
CPD hopes the event sends a message to the families of fallen officers that they are loved and remembered.
“People have given their lives, I mean these are the heroes we support today, only officers have died, I can't even imagine, lost a child or husband or partner,” said Karen Interrance, an officer's wife. . “That's difficult.”
A somber knock echoed on Golden Star Memorial Sunday.
“We thank you, but we know thank you isn't enough for all that our officers and their families have given this city,” said Chicago Police Interim Superintendent Eric Carter.
Recruits holding signs showing faces and names of lives cut short.
Maria Marmolejo lost her husband, Eduardo, while at work in 2018.
“This parade symbolizes pride, hope and the unrelenting strength by those who will keep going, even when the tunnel gets darker and the light gets scarcer,” said Marmolejo.
Officer Michael Curry's family has served in the CPD since 1935, and say the sacrifices of his colleagues can never be taken for granted.
“My grandfather, my father, my uncle, my mother, my brother, cousins. It's a family business,” said Curry. “We are all here for each other. We are here to remember those who died and just to support each other the best we can because we are all blue.”
Judy Antoniazzi is married to a retired Chicago police officer, and also has a son who is serving.
He said this moving march should serve as a reminder to all of us about the dangers of wearing the badge.
“You want to make sure you tell them you love them before they leave the house because that might be the last time you say it,” says Antoniazzi.
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