Monument honoring fallen police dedicated at Cape County Park

Law enforcement personnel, community leaders and others gathered Friday to dedicate a memorial honoring 47 fallen officers with ties to Southeast Missouri.

The memorial replaces a monument honoring fallen officers at Cape County Park North and consists of three 4 1/2-foot-tall black granite panels and a separate 2-foot-tall panel engraved with a poem about the officers.

Names of officers killed in the line of duty are etched on the panels, along with their department and date of death.

Representatives of Seniors and Lawmen Together raised the money with donations from individuals, family members of fallen officers and organizations. Formed in 1995, SALT holds monthly meetings and special events to promote interaction between seniors and law enforcement.

"I hope you find this a fitting tribute," said Cape Girardeau police assistant chief Roger Fields during the dedication of the memorial. He has been a driving force behind fundraising efforts.

Pat Ruopp of Cape Girardeau said he was impressed with the monument that honored his brother, Timothy Ruopp, who died Sept. 16, 1984, while serving with the San Diego Police Department.

"It's an honor and privilege for him to be honored," Ruopp said. "We just really appreciate all the effort and what the whole law enforcement community has done."

Before the dedication of the monument, SALT held its annual law enforcement ceremony. The program included the singing of "Amazing Grace," posting of colors, playing of taps, speeches by law enforcement officers and recognition of children who won a contest for drawings and poems about police officers. The ceremony also featured a reading of the names of the 47 fallen officers and presentation of roses to their family members.

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan said the morning was a sacred time of remembrance.

"I ask you [to] remember these fallen heroes as husbands, as fathers, as sons, as brothers, and that you remember them in their uniforms, wearing the badge, standing straight and proud," Jordan said. "All of us here today that are bearers of the badge wear our badges with honor and with respect and with as much pride as each of these fallen brothers of ours."

In his keynote speech, retired Missouri State Highway patrolman Bill Adams said, "Not only we do honor them for their supreme sacrifice, but, ladies and gentlemen, they define who we are and what we stand for. That's the caliber of person that we are recognizing here today.

"I know within my heart that they are looking down upon us today, this morning," Adams said. And to "each and every one of us and they're saying 'thank you.' They're saying, 'Thank you for not forgetting us.'"

bblackwell@semissourian.com

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