Thursday, May 15, 2014

Police Memorial at the Capitol

I usually work on Thursday but I had an appointment this morning and requested a whole day off. When we got home the parking situation was worse than usual. We figured out why when we went for a walk. As soon as we hit the Capitol grounds, our usual route was blocked off, so we walked along the east side of the building and headed to the Constitution Avenue/Senate side. There was a huge police presence, not just guarding entryways, but motorcycles and foot traffic. But these police were wearing their finest dress uniforms in this very humid and hot temperature - and it's only 80 degrees! A visitor from Barcelona asked why the flags were at half staff. I couldn't think of any particular individual, but then thought of Police Memorial Week. And sure enough, when we asked one of the participants,  that was it. We were not able to cross back over until we were a block away from the reflecting pond. From there, all the visitors were forced to stay in one spot as the ceremony progressed. It could be seen in the distance on the west lawn behind the tent that has been erected for the Memorial Day tribute at the end of the month. As we swung back around toward the US Botanical Garden, several police honor guards representing a variety of states or functions crossed in front of us. There are a lot of ways to pay tribute to fallen officers in the line of duty. Obviously this is a very special event and very well protected. 











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