April 20, 2024 • 29 mins
Ryan Gorman hosts an iHeartRadio nationwide special featuring Bill Alexander, CEO of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Bill Alexander joins the show to discuss the upcoming 36th annual candlelight vigil for fallen law enforcement officers, along with information on the organization’s memorial and museum in Washington D.C., and its work on safety and wellness for members of law enforcement nationwide. Plus, Brigadier General Mike Eastman, Executive Director of Onward Ops, and Andrea McCarren, President of the PenFed Foundation, check in to discuss their work assisting veterans transition back into civilian life, including a program partnering veterans with sponsors to help with that transition.
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(00:00):
Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a publicaffairs special focusing on the biggest issues impacting
you. This week. Here's RyanGorman. Thanks so much for joining us
here on iHeartRadio Communities. I'm RyanGorman, and we have a few very
important conversations lined up for you.Ian just a bit, we're going to
talk to two organizations, Onward Opsand the pen Fed Foundation. We're doing
(00:24):
vital work helping veterans with their transitionback into civilian life, so please stick
around for that conversation right now,though, to get things started, let
me bring in Bill Alexander, theCEO of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial
Fund. In a few weeks duringNational Police Week, fallen law enforcement officers
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from across the country are going tobe honored during the thirty sixth annual Candlelight
Vigil in Washington, DC. Youcan learn more about all of this at
nl EOMF dot org. Again,that's nl EOMF dot org. Bill,
thank you so much for coming onthe show. And for those who aren't
familiar with the work your organization does, can you give us an overview?
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Ran Firs, thank you, Thankyou for taking a few minutes of your
time here to help tell the storyof American law enforcement and the men and
women who die in the line ofduty. So you're absolutely correct. Police
Week is very fast approaching. It'sgenerally surrounding the date of May fifteenth,
which is Peace Officers Memorial Day,and that is very very symbolic for everyone
who has been and continues to bein the profession. I myself retired two
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years ago from law enforcement and Ijoined this very unique, in my mind,
key organization started in nineteen eighty fourby an Act of Congress which allowed
for the collection of monies to ultimatelydesign and then build what is now the
National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial right herein the heart of DC. Every single
one of those dollars donated by individualsand some degree corporate partners from across the
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country. The memorial was built andcontinues to exist entirely without a single dollar
of local, state, federal money. It has all been donated by men
and women from across the country,and the memorial now stands again in the
heart of Washington, DC, andI think appropriately memorializes honors, remembers the
men and women in US law enforcementwho have served in that capacity and ultimately
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been injured and killed as a resultof that work. And right now today
we are in the process of engravingan additional two hundred and eighty two names,
and once that is complete tomorrow,we will then have more than twenty
four thousand names, the names ofheroes, every single one, but heroes
who have died in service of usare of their community, of our country,
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our democracy. Now, as partof the work you do, you
cover three different areas. You havethe memorial, you have a museum,
and then you focus on officer safetyand wellness. Correct, that is absolutely
correct. So the memorial is sortof the keystone of our organization. It
is the place where we again honorthe fall and honor the men women who
have died in the line of duty. We also have right here in DC,
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right next to the memorial is aworld class museum where we try to
tell the story of American law enforcement. And it's a place where visitors can
come and sort of metaphorically walk inthe shoes of a man or woman in
uniform, and I might argue,really get a sense of how powerful even
a single police officer can be.And of course I would argue, is
in the communities that they're serving.And our third and final pillars, what
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we refer to as officer safety andwellness. It's where we as an organization
try to impart take some of thedata related to those line of duty dust
that we honor on the memorial.That really does give us a window into
the how, where why men andwomen in uniform are facing too often tragic
and fatal outcomes, and then takethat data and use it in a way
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to craft, create, amend,perhaps edit or push out best practices and
programs from across the country in aneffort to make it safer for the men
and women who are doing the job. We use the phrase here to try
to keep names off of the wallin reference to our very safe walls here.
I want to step through each ofthose for a moment, and let's
start with the memorial. What isthe process like for getting names added to
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that? Sure so every single year, of course, tragically in the hundreds
historically, there are men and womenwho die in the line of duty,
and the agencies where those men andwomen work basically submit to us a relatively
in depth case packet which includes allof the details that are known to the
agency in terms of how, where, why the officer was working, and
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ultimately a sustain and injury which ledto their death. And so we take
all of that information and we packagedit together, and then that information is
presented to what we internally refer toas the Names Committee, made up of
active or retired police officers and anumber of our board members, and they
vet every single one of those casesto ensure that it meets our very strict
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criteria to ensure that the person thatwe are honoring was in fact employed by
a law enforcement agency, was infact doing law enforcement related work at the
time time that they suffered that injuryand subsequently died. So assuming that the
case makes it through the Names Committeeand has ultimately improved, then we add
those names to a continuing queue ofnames a waiting to be placed on the
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memorial. And then every spring webegin the engraving process historically right in early
or mid May, to be addedto again our very sacred memorial walls.
And we are in that process rightnow again, adding two hundred and eighty
two total names to what was twentythree seven hundred and eighty five and will
now number over twenty four thousand inyour experience. How meaningful is all of
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this to the families and the friendsand the departments of those who have fallen.
You know, it's really really difficultto put into words just how meaningful
to see that name etched and inscribedon this granite stone. Is I mentioned
before, I myself retired from lawenforcement about two years ago to take a
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role here. During my twenty fiveyears of service with the department just outside
of DC, sixteen of my peers, about twelve of whom I knew personally
to varying degrees. So I oftentell that story to visitors who come here,
And I don't say to make thestory about me, but I do
use it as an example. Ipersonally am not unique. Almost every single
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police officer I know knows someone directlywhose name is on our very sacred walls.
So even a single loss of lifein the law enforcement profession, I
would argue as a spider web ora shattering effect across the broad law enforcement
community that is really really difficult forpeople outside of law enforcement to really understand.
And it's not just the law enforcementcommunity. I might also argue that
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even a single death of a policeofficer, that life, that contribution.
That profession is something more than say, a single thread in the fabric of
the community in which they live andserve, and to pull away that one
thread is causing much more damage andmuch more heartache and much more grief than
maybe a single thread might otherwise represent. And you know, these walls here
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mean absolutely everything, not just tothe profession, not just to the coworkers,
but certainly to the families. Almostevery single day I will see someone
out looking at the walls, lookingfor a specific name, looking for their
family member. But certainly during PoliceWeek, when literally tens of thousands of
people from across the country and reallyaround the world come to stand here,
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you can see that this is morethan just stone and grass and trees and
statuary. There is something about thisplace, about this space, which allows,
to some degree, I think,some level of healing, some level
of catharsis, but also a feelingof redemption and not joy, but certainly
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recognizing the profession in which these menand women dedicated their lives, and that
they gave their lives in service ofsomething greater again their community, this country,
and our democers. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined now by Bill Alexander CEO
of the National Law Enforcement Officers MemorialFund. You can learn more and support
the work they do so at nlEOMF dot org. You also give out
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awards throughout the course of the year. Tell us about that, sure,
well. We have two sets ofawards. One is our recurring monthly Officer
of the Month award, where wetry to highlight a story about law enforcement
officers doing the right thing, whichso often they are doing. They are
in fact out there serving us,finding ways to make our community safer,
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oftentimes intervening with their own lives tohelp make us in our community safe,
and we try to find those storiesand highlight them because unfortunately, far too
often the media overlooks those stories,and we try to not only celebrate their
heroic actions, but also celebrate thetimes in which they have done something to
i might say, humanize the professionallaw enforcement profession, to show that the
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men and women in uniform are thesame as everyone else, they just have
a very unique job. So wehave Officer of the Month awards that we
do again those monthly. We alsohave three major Tentpole awards presented and ultimately
awarded by our board, and thoseare an annual Distinguished Service Award, something
specific to law enforcement, a LifetimeAchievement Award again something specific to law enforcement,
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and an Excellence and Media Award,again something specific to law enforcement,
where we try to find those reallyexemplar stories across the nation, for people
who have contributed in a meaningful wayto the profession or to law enforcement generally,
or perhaps to some segment of ourcontinuing conversation about law enforcement and interfacing
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with the communities which law enforcement isserving. Finding some way to honor those
men and women who are moving theprofession forward. Now, let's get to
the museum. Tell us about whatpeople can expect to are there in person,
and also are there any options availableonline for those who can make it.
Yeah, ironically, we actually areworking with LAKA right now to try
to They have done a three Dimaging of the interior the museum and we're
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trying to figure out a way toget that to be publicly accessible. But
right now, of course, wedo have some sort of still photography,
and there are a very few numberof videos both on our YouTube page and
on our main web page, whichyou've referenced already, but it's pretty difficult
to really get a sense of theinside of this really, I might argue
world class museum. I mean,it really does just an amazing job of
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telling that story of American law enforcementacross the broad stretch of US history over
the last two hundred and fifty years, and it really tells the story in
a way which I think many peoplein the country are completely unaware that the
stories that you see and hear hereyou are really unlikely to see or hear
anywhere else. And there are storiesthat really do exemplify the good that law
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enforcement has done and is doing.You know, I am a very strong
proponent of the idea that law enforcementhas been and continues to be just an
overwhelming force for good for our country. Not that men and women in uniform
can't and don't make mistakes, notthat very rarely, thankfully, men and
women in uniform occasionally commit criminal as. The reality is is that the eight
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hundred thousand plus men and women inuniform today are out there doing the right
things for the right reasons, andwe try to find and highlight those stories
across the last two hundred and fiftyyears to really give people a sense of
how law enforcement has made our societyand our country much much better than it
otherwise would have been, and thatis what they will find here at the
museum. I'm Ryan Gorman, joinedby Bill Alexander, CEO of the National
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Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Youcan learn more at nl EOMF dot org.
Finally, let's get to officer safetyand Wellness. Tell us about that
part of your program well again,officers are our officer safety and Wellness pillars
where we again try to take someof that data related to the line of
duty deaths and we try to createand push out programs which we hope will
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make it safer for the men andwomen who are out there doing the job.
A lot of that focuses on themajor tentpole areas where men and women
do face tragic outcomes and fatal outcomesout there on the streets, and those
are largely centered on traffic related fatalitiesand firearms related fatalities. Those are sort
of generic terms that to some degreereally pull you away from the reality of
(12:07):
being out there on the streets.But you know, every single year plus
or minus fifty to seventy men andwomen are out on our roadways and they
get struck by a car and arekilled also equally, every single year,
fifty to seventy men and women areout there doing the jobs and they are
shot and killed. Of course,there's another word for that, that's murdered.
So many of our men and womenin uniform are out there trying to
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protect the populace and as they're doingso, they are shot and killed.
And again I think that is murdered. The reality is, even though we
do report those numbers of deaths,which do average about fifty every single year
over the last ten years, thatfigure is really masking the true what I
might say is the true danger forthe men and women doing the job.
Our friends and partners over at thePaternal or Replice just released their annual report
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a couple months ago for the endof twenty twenty three, and almost four
hundred police officers were shot and actuallystruck in twenty twenty three. And when
I say shot, I mean thesuspect shot of them and then the officer
was struck. Now, of course, just over forty of those ultimately died
from those wounds, but still thatis a staggering number, and it's the
highest number that the FOP has evertracked since they began recording data, and
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they have more than fifty years worthof data, So it really does go
to show how increasingly dangerous the conditionsare out on the street. And I
think the real reason that we don'thave even higher numbers of deaths is because
of improving technology on the ballistic resistantfront, products made by companies like DuPont.
These increasingly light and more sustainable fabricsthat have the ability to have higher
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stopping power for what's coming in towardspolice officers. And also there's just no
question that the medical technology continues toadvance, thankfully in a good way,
that trauma care continues to advance,and it is in fact saving the lives
of many of these men and womenwho are shot and struck. Another starting
fact is is that that figure ofalmost four hundred does not account for the
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number of times that police officers areshot at but the suspect or suspects miss,
so it really is I think Icould make a very very strong case
that the conditions out on the roadsfor the men and women doing this very
very tough job are increasingly dangerous andto a large degree masked by the number
of officers who actually die by virtueof the ones who are saved either through
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ballistic or technology or just improve traumacare. And finally, with National Police Week
just a few weeks away, andof course your thirty sixth annual Candilelight Vigil
in Washington, DC, can youdescribe what everyone who attends can expect.
Then, well, first, anyonewho is hearing this, I cannot encourage
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you enough. Please come to acandlelight vigil. If you can't make it
this year, then come next year. It is every May thirteenth. It
is open to the public. Itis on the National Mall right in the
heart of Washington, DC. Everysingle year we have upwards of forty thousand
people attend, and it is itis really really difficult to put into the
words the raw emotion, just thetangible feeling of grief, sorrow again redemption
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to some degree, the celebration ofour heroes. If you have not been,
please come. Our candidate vigil isthe temhole event of all of Police
Week. It's the only major eventthat's opened to the public and to be
standing in the crowd where again youreally can feel that emotion, to hear
each of the names read most recentlyadded to our memorial to recognize the story
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behind each of those names. Eachof those names is a father, a
son, a brother, a sister, a mother, a father, and
they were out there doing their jobto protect us, and they died as
a result. To be in thatcrowd, in that atmosphere, to really
recognize the service and sacrifice of somany, it is quite something to behold.
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It really is staggering. It's aspecial time and special place, and
I cannot encourage everyone listening to thisplease go to a candilight vigil at least
once in your life, if notfor yourself, do it for the surviving
family members who are there. Andcertainly could use the encouragement of every single
citizen of this great country to saythank you. Thank you, family members
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for allowing your loved one to goout and serve us and ultimately die in
that service. Bill Alexander, CEOof the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund,
you can learn more and support thetremendously important work they do at nl
EOMF dot org. Bill, Iwant to thank you so much for the
work you're doing with this organization andfor your service to this country serving in
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law enforcement. We really appreciate thetime Ian Thank you. I am so
thankful that there are a few peoplein the media like you who are willing
and able to help tell the story. It's so appreciated in law enforcement certainly
appreciates your voice advocating for them andus. Thank you so much. All
right, thanks again, Bill,my pleasure. I'm Ryan Gorman here on
iHeartRadio Communities, and now let mebring in our next guest. I'm joined
by Brigady your General, Mike Eastman, executive director of onward Ops, which
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you can learn more about at onwardopsdot org. And Andrew mccheron, president
of the pen Fed Foundation, whichyou can find online at Penfedfoundation dot org.
Thank you both so much for comingon the show and bringing to your
General. Eastman. Let me startwith you, what are some of the
challenges veterans face when they return homeand begin their transition back into civilian life.
(17:22):
I would describe those challenges as fallinginto two buckets. First, you
have the fact that you're living avery structured, regimented environment. Whether you
serve for four years or forty,you have a common purpose, a bond,
really a sense of who you areand when you leave the military.
For many many veterans, you feellike you're leaving that part of yourself behind,
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and that's a challenge. At thesame time, you're confronting all the
decisions that anyone going through a majorlife change would have to sort out,
whether it's getting a new job,or getting a new house, getting new
medical coverage, or in the caseof a veteran, all of above.
And it's the convergence of all thosepressures in one discrete period of time that
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we have found really benefits from goodinformation and then guidance of a mentor from
your community. In some of theinterviews I've done on this topic in the
past, some other things that oftencome up. You have veterans who are
dealing with PTSD and other issues fromthe time they served. They're also trying
to integrate themselves back into their familylife and with friends and all of that.
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And then you get to the jobfront, and that can be a
challenge too. It's a lot,and for those of us who haven't served,
I think sometimes it's hard for usto fully understand what that transition is
like. Is a lot, butI feel like we are being proactive.
We are getting ahead, or tryingto with your help, getting ahead of
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some of those negative consequences that comedown the road when there's that kind of
shell shock from becoming coming back tothe community. The Penfet Foundation exists to
empower veterans as they make that transition. So we really appreciate what onward Ops
is doing assigning a one on onementor in a hometown for every veteran that's
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transitioning, and it has proven successful. So our call to action for all
of your listeners nationwide is really twofold. We're looking for mentors. Doesn't have
to be a veteran, just someonewho has a few hours a week to
you know, be there to givesome guidance. Think about the times in
your life that you may have madea geographic move. You need to figure
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housing, a job, maybe schoolsfor your children, medical care. There's
a lot going on there. Soa mentor is just somebody who's a volunteer,
maybe grabs coffee, is there fora phone call or a text from
time to time. But we're alsoreally interesting and spreading the word about what
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onward Ops does to support those transitioningfrom military service to the civilian world.
I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by Brigadyyour General Mike Eastman, executive director of
Onward Ops, and Andrew McCarron,President of the Penn Fed Foundation. So,
Andrea, I want to talk toeach of you for a moment about
your specific organizations, and let mestart with you give us an overview of
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the work the pen Fed Foundation does. We have been in existence since two
thousand and one, and really we'rethere initially to support veterans at Walter Reed
Medical Center because we wanted to doour part to give back. So we've
been around for more than twenty threeyears now and we have three major programs,
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Military Heroes, where we provide grantsand some emergency assistance and really are
looking to make an impact with partnershipslike the one we have with Onward Ops.
We also have a very successful servicedog initiative. He is not with
me today, but I am currentlyraising my sixth service dog for a veteran
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first responder or someone else with adisability, and we're really encouraging that as
a way for those who may haveeither psychological challenges or physical challenges due to
their service. Service dogs are gamechanging when it comes to independence, so
that falls under our Military Heroes program. We also are very proud to support
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veteran led businesses through our unique Entrepreneurprogram, which is now based in Bentonville,
Arkansas, probably best known as thehome to Walmart, also a very
military friendly community. Major companies thereJB. Hunt, Tyson's Foods, four
hundred of the nation's Fortune five hundredcompanies have a presence now in Bentonville,
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Arkansas, so we thought it wasa smart place to move our program where
we mentor and support veteran led businesses. And finally, we're extremely proud of
our Afghan Allies program. When Kabofell back to the Taliban in August of
twenty twenty one, we rescued andresettled forty three Afghan women warfighters who served
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alongside US special forces and were criticalin tracking down and capturing Taliban leaders.
They are now forty one of ourforty three have now been granted asylum in
the US. They're all taking Englishclasses, most of them have jobs,
they're learning to drive here. Sowe are a wide ranging organization, but
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those are our three priorities, andwe could not believe that this is more
important than helping with that transition fromservice to community success. And again,
you can learn more and offer yoursupport to the pin Fed Foundation by going
to Pinfedfoundation dot org. Brigadier GeneralEastman, let me turn to you.
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Tell us about the work that onwardOps does and how your organization first started.
So onward Ops exist to bridge thetransition between military service and civilian life,
and it fills a space. Thereare certainly great programs across the country
at the federal level on both theveterans side and the Department of Defense side
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to provide resources to our veterans.The gap that we discovered was between the
federal and the local and it iswhere you get to the place you're going
to live where things start to getchallenging. So our program has been in
existence for seven years now and whatwe're doing is connecting community mentors with those
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leaving the military within an ecosystem ofvetted and trusted resources. And we have
shown over time over the last severalyears of doing this that that simple human
to human connection really makes a difference. It changes lives for the better,
and it doesn't take a tremendous amountof time or energy on the part of
the mentor just the ability to answera phone call occasionally spend a couple hours
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a month talking to someone makes aworld a difference. I noticed you have
two options for veterans making that transitionback into civilian life. You have a
guide for those who prefer to goon that journey alone. And then,
of course what we've been discussing,you have sponsors available. How does the
process work for each option? Youhave the option when you enroll in on
a program and either going solo andguiding yourself using our tools and our dashboards,
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or going what we call co opand signing up for a sponsor or
a mentor right out of the gate. We recommend the individuals select a mentor
because we know the power of that, but at the same time, I
come from a culture where asking forhelp is not always something that's easy to
do. So we built the solooption to give folks a chance to start
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planning their transition. And interestingly enough, there's a big red button at the
top of our dashboard that says,I would like a mentor. And what
we're discovering is thirty sixty ninety daysinto this process, when individuals have really
spent some time thinking about what theywant to do and where they might benefit
from some assistance, they are optingfrom the solo into the mentored co op
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version because there's a tremendous amount ofpower in doing that. I'm Ryan Gorman
joined now by Brigadier General Mike Eastman, executive director of onward Ops, which
you can learn more about at onwardopsdot org, and Andrew mccheron, President
of the Penn Fed Foundation, whichyou can find online at Penfedfoundation dot org.
Brigadier General Eastman, I'm curious,do you have any examples that you
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can offer up of a veteran whowas about to make that transition and got
a sponsor and how much that helpedthem along the way. I have more
than we probably have the time forit today, and it really runs the
gamut. It goes from the youngspecialist in Texas who planned to stand in
(26:11):
the military for twenty years and unfortunatelygot injured in training and all of a
sudden has to confront a change thatwas unexpected. And in that case it
was let's talk about a resume,let's talk about applying to college, let's
talk about what it means to rentversus buying a home. Working with his
sponsor John, in this case,he's now got secure housing stable housing and
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he's starting a new career. Tothe other end of the spectrum, where
you have a more let's say,seasoned service member coming out of the Navy
who doesn't really know what they wantto do in the next chapter, but
has amassed a huge sort of arrayof skills and experiences. In that case,
we match this service member up toa sponsor. I think it was
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Bonnie in this case, go fromI don't know what I want to do
too as we sit here today,a successful career in finance overseas something that
the service member never even considered becausethey didn't know those opportunities exist. And
Andrea, final question for you,just taking a look at both organizations,
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how can people get involved who arelistening right now and think, you know
what this is again the least Ican do for those who have served this
country. And Ryan, what Ilove about your program is it's all about
community, and we are building community. You know, in the military,
as a military brat, I knowthere's this priceless sense of camaraderie and mission
and purpose. And we would loveto give your audience that same sense of
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mission and purpose, whether they servedor didn't serve in uniform this is their
opportunity to go to Penfeedfoundation dot orgsign up to become a volunteer mentor.
I'm sure it will be life changing. And the other opportunity is whether you
are currently in the military and planninga transition out, or if you have
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a loved one who might be transitioningout, let them know about this incredible
opportunity, free of charge, opento all branches of service. I really
believe Brian in the inherent goodness ofAmerica's Americans. They have huge hearts,
they want to give back. Thisis such a wonderful opportunity you can do
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from your hometown. Won't cost youanything. Maybe a cup of coffee,
maybe a little guess to get toa location where you're going to meet this
veteran, but mostly if you havea phone, you have the opportunity to
mentor and make a difference, aprofound difference in someone's life. Again.
Andrea McCarron, President of the penFed Foundation, You can learn more and
(28:47):
offer your support at Penfedfoundation dot org. And Brigadier General Mike Eastman, executive
director of onward Ops. You canlearn more about that organization as well at
Onwardops dot org. General Eastman Andrea. I want to thank you both so
much, obviously for the incredible workyou're doing, important work, and for
coming on the show. We reallyappreciate it. Thank you so much,
(29:07):
Ryan, thank you all right,So again, two tremendous organizations that are
doing incredible work that I highly recommendyou check out, along with, of
course, the first organization we highlightedduring the show, the National Law Enforcement
Officers Memorial Fund. That's going todo it for this edition of iHeartRadio Communities.
As we wrap things up, Iwant to offer a big thanks to
(29:29):
all of our guests and of courseto all of you for listening. If
you want to hear previous episodes ofthis show, run your iHeartRadio app just
search for iHeartRadio Communities. I'm yourhost, Ryan Gorman. We'll talk to
you again real soon.
Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a publicaffairs special focusing on the biggest issues impacting
you. This week. Here's RyanGorman. Thanks so much for joining us
here on iHeartRadio Communities. I'm RyanGorman, and we have a few very
important conversations lined up for you.Ian just a bit, we're going to
talk to two organizations, Onward Opsand the pen Fed Foundation. We're doing
(00:24):
vital work helping veterans with their transitionback into civilian life, so please stick
around for that conversation right now,though, to get things started, let
me bring in Bill Alexander, theCEO of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial
Fund. In a few weeks duringNational Police Week, fallen law enforcement officers
(00:45):
from across the country are going tobe honored during the thirty sixth annual Candlelight
Vigil in Washington, DC. Youcan learn more about all of this at
nl EOMF dot org. Again,that's nl EOMF dot org. Bill,
thank you so much for coming onthe show. And for those who aren't
familiar with the work your organization does, can you give us an overview?
(01:10):
Ran Firs, thank you, Thankyou for taking a few minutes of your
time here to help tell the storyof American law enforcement and the men and
women who die in the line ofduty. So you're absolutely correct. Police
Week is very fast approaching. It'sgenerally surrounding the date of May fifteenth,
which is Peace Officers Memorial Day,and that is very very symbolic for everyone
who has been and continues to bein the profession. I myself retired two
(01:33):
years ago from law enforcement and Ijoined this very unique, in my mind,
key organization started in nineteen eighty fourby an Act of Congress which allowed
for the collection of monies to ultimatelydesign and then build what is now the
National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial right herein the heart of DC. Every single
one of those dollars donated by individualsand some degree corporate partners from across the
(01:55):
country. The memorial was built andcontinues to exist entirely without a single dollar
of local, state, federal money. It has all been donated by men
and women from across the country,and the memorial now stands again in the
heart of Washington, DC, andI think appropriately memorializes honors, remembers the
men and women in US law enforcementwho have served in that capacity and ultimately
(02:19):
been injured and killed as a resultof that work. And right now today
we are in the process of engravingan additional two hundred and eighty two names,
and once that is complete tomorrow,we will then have more than twenty
four thousand names, the names ofheroes, every single one, but heroes
who have died in service of usare of their community, of our country,
(02:40):
our democracy. Now, as partof the work you do, you
cover three different areas. You havethe memorial, you have a museum,
and then you focus on officer safetyand wellness. Correct, that is absolutely
correct. So the memorial is sortof the keystone of our organization. It
is the place where we again honorthe fall and honor the men women who
have died in the line of duty. We also have right here in DC,
(03:02):
right next to the memorial is aworld class museum where we try to
tell the story of American law enforcement. And it's a place where visitors can
come and sort of metaphorically walk inthe shoes of a man or woman in
uniform, and I might argue,really get a sense of how powerful even
a single police officer can be.And of course I would argue, is
in the communities that they're serving.And our third and final pillars, what
(03:23):
we refer to as officer safety andwellness. It's where we as an organization
try to impart take some of thedata related to those line of duty dust
that we honor on the memorial.That really does give us a window into
the how, where why men andwomen in uniform are facing too often tragic
and fatal outcomes, and then takethat data and use it in a way
(03:45):
to craft, create, amend,perhaps edit or push out best practices and
programs from across the country in aneffort to make it safer for the men
and women who are doing the job. We use the phrase here to try
to keep names off of the wallin reference to our very safe walls here.
I want to step through each ofthose for a moment, and let's
start with the memorial. What isthe process like for getting names added to
(04:09):
that? Sure so every single year, of course, tragically in the hundreds
historically, there are men and womenwho die in the line of duty,
and the agencies where those men andwomen work basically submit to us a relatively
in depth case packet which includes allof the details that are known to the
agency in terms of how, where, why the officer was working, and
(04:29):
ultimately a sustain and injury which ledto their death. And so we take
all of that information and we packagedit together, and then that information is
presented to what we internally refer toas the Names Committee, made up of
active or retired police officers and anumber of our board members, and they
vet every single one of those casesto ensure that it meets our very strict
(04:50):
criteria to ensure that the person thatwe are honoring was in fact employed by
a law enforcement agency, was infact doing law enforcement related work at the
time time that they suffered that injuryand subsequently died. So assuming that the
case makes it through the Names Committeeand has ultimately improved, then we add
those names to a continuing queue ofnames a waiting to be placed on the
(05:12):
memorial. And then every spring webegin the engraving process historically right in early
or mid May, to be addedto again our very sacred memorial walls.
And we are in that process rightnow again, adding two hundred and eighty
two total names to what was twentythree seven hundred and eighty five and will
now number over twenty four thousand inyour experience. How meaningful is all of
(05:34):
this to the families and the friendsand the departments of those who have fallen.
You know, it's really really difficultto put into words just how meaningful
to see that name etched and inscribedon this granite stone. Is I mentioned
before, I myself retired from lawenforcement about two years ago to take a
(05:55):
role here. During my twenty fiveyears of service with the department just outside
of DC, sixteen of my peers, about twelve of whom I knew personally
to varying degrees. So I oftentell that story to visitors who come here,
And I don't say to make thestory about me, but I do
use it as an example. Ipersonally am not unique. Almost every single
(06:15):
police officer I know knows someone directlywhose name is on our very sacred walls.
So even a single loss of lifein the law enforcement profession, I
would argue as a spider web ora shattering effect across the broad law enforcement
community that is really really difficult forpeople outside of law enforcement to really understand.
And it's not just the law enforcementcommunity. I might also argue that
(06:36):
even a single death of a policeofficer, that life, that contribution.
That profession is something more than say, a single thread in the fabric of
the community in which they live andserve, and to pull away that one
thread is causing much more damage andmuch more heartache and much more grief than
maybe a single thread might otherwise represent. And you know, these walls here
(07:00):
mean absolutely everything, not just tothe profession, not just to the coworkers,
but certainly to the families. Almostevery single day I will see someone
out looking at the walls, lookingfor a specific name, looking for their
family member. But certainly during PoliceWeek, when literally tens of thousands of
people from across the country and reallyaround the world come to stand here,
(07:21):
you can see that this is morethan just stone and grass and trees and
statuary. There is something about thisplace, about this space, which allows,
to some degree, I think,some level of healing, some level
of catharsis, but also a feelingof redemption and not joy, but certainly
(07:42):
recognizing the profession in which these menand women dedicated their lives, and that
they gave their lives in service ofsomething greater again their community, this country,
and our democers. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined now by Bill Alexander CEO
of the National Law Enforcement Officers MemorialFund. You can learn more and support
the work they do so at nlEOMF dot org. You also give out
(08:03):
awards throughout the course of the year. Tell us about that, sure,
well. We have two sets ofawards. One is our recurring monthly Officer
of the Month award, where wetry to highlight a story about law enforcement
officers doing the right thing, whichso often they are doing. They are
in fact out there serving us,finding ways to make our community safer,
(08:24):
oftentimes intervening with their own lives tohelp make us in our community safe,
and we try to find those storiesand highlight them because unfortunately, far too
often the media overlooks those stories,and we try to not only celebrate their
heroic actions, but also celebrate thetimes in which they have done something to
i might say, humanize the professionallaw enforcement profession, to show that the
(08:46):
men and women in uniform are thesame as everyone else, they just have
a very unique job. So wehave Officer of the Month awards that we
do again those monthly. We alsohave three major Tentpole awards presented and ultimately
awarded by our board, and thoseare an annual Distinguished Service Award, something
specific to law enforcement, a LifetimeAchievement Award again something specific to law enforcement,
(09:09):
and an Excellence and Media Award,again something specific to law enforcement,
where we try to find those reallyexemplar stories across the nation, for people
who have contributed in a meaningful wayto the profession or to law enforcement generally,
or perhaps to some segment of ourcontinuing conversation about law enforcement and interfacing
(09:33):
with the communities which law enforcement isserving. Finding some way to honor those
men and women who are moving theprofession forward. Now, let's get to
the museum. Tell us about whatpeople can expect to are there in person,
and also are there any options availableonline for those who can make it.
Yeah, ironically, we actually areworking with LAKA right now to try
to They have done a three Dimaging of the interior the museum and we're
(09:54):
trying to figure out a way toget that to be publicly accessible. But
right now, of course, wedo have some sort of still photography,
and there are a very few numberof videos both on our YouTube page and
on our main web page, whichyou've referenced already, but it's pretty difficult
to really get a sense of theinside of this really, I might argue
world class museum. I mean,it really does just an amazing job of
(10:16):
telling that story of American law enforcementacross the broad stretch of US history over
the last two hundred and fifty years, and it really tells the story in
a way which I think many peoplein the country are completely unaware that the
stories that you see and hear hereyou are really unlikely to see or hear
anywhere else. And there are storiesthat really do exemplify the good that law
(10:39):
enforcement has done and is doing.You know, I am a very strong
proponent of the idea that law enforcementhas been and continues to be just an
overwhelming force for good for our country. Not that men and women in uniform
can't and don't make mistakes, notthat very rarely, thankfully, men and
women in uniform occasionally commit criminal as. The reality is is that the eight
(11:00):
hundred thousand plus men and women inuniform today are out there doing the right
things for the right reasons, andwe try to find and highlight those stories
across the last two hundred and fiftyyears to really give people a sense of
how law enforcement has made our societyand our country much much better than it
otherwise would have been, and thatis what they will find here at the
museum. I'm Ryan Gorman, joinedby Bill Alexander, CEO of the National
(11:22):
Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Youcan learn more at nl EOMF dot org.
Finally, let's get to officer safetyand Wellness. Tell us about that
part of your program well again,officers are our officer safety and Wellness pillars
where we again try to take someof that data related to the line of
duty deaths and we try to createand push out programs which we hope will
(11:45):
make it safer for the men andwomen who are out there doing the job.
A lot of that focuses on themajor tentpole areas where men and women
do face tragic outcomes and fatal outcomesout there on the streets, and those
are largely centered on traffic related fatalitiesand firearms related fatalities. Those are sort
of generic terms that to some degreereally pull you away from the reality of
(12:07):
being out there on the streets.But you know, every single year plus
or minus fifty to seventy men andwomen are out on our roadways and they
get struck by a car and arekilled also equally, every single year,
fifty to seventy men and women areout there doing the jobs and they are
shot and killed. Of course,there's another word for that, that's murdered.
So many of our men and womenin uniform are out there trying to
(12:28):
protect the populace and as they're doingso, they are shot and killed.
And again I think that is murdered. The reality is, even though we
do report those numbers of deaths,which do average about fifty every single year
over the last ten years, thatfigure is really masking the true what I
might say is the true danger forthe men and women doing the job.
Our friends and partners over at thePaternal or Replice just released their annual report
(12:52):
a couple months ago for the endof twenty twenty three, and almost four
hundred police officers were shot and actuallystruck in twenty twenty three. And when
I say shot, I mean thesuspect shot of them and then the officer
was struck. Now, of course, just over forty of those ultimately died
from those wounds, but still thatis a staggering number, and it's the
highest number that the FOP has evertracked since they began recording data, and
(13:15):
they have more than fifty years worthof data, So it really does go
to show how increasingly dangerous the conditionsare out on the street. And I
think the real reason that we don'thave even higher numbers of deaths is because
of improving technology on the ballistic resistantfront, products made by companies like DuPont.
These increasingly light and more sustainable fabricsthat have the ability to have higher
(13:37):
stopping power for what's coming in towardspolice officers. And also there's just no
question that the medical technology continues toadvance, thankfully in a good way,
that trauma care continues to advance,and it is in fact saving the lives
of many of these men and womenwho are shot and struck. Another starting
fact is is that that figure ofalmost four hundred does not account for the
(13:58):
number of times that police officers areshot at but the suspect or suspects miss,
so it really is I think Icould make a very very strong case
that the conditions out on the roadsfor the men and women doing this very
very tough job are increasingly dangerous andto a large degree masked by the number
of officers who actually die by virtueof the ones who are saved either through
(14:20):
ballistic or technology or just improve traumacare. And finally, with National Police Week
just a few weeks away, andof course your thirty sixth annual Candilelight Vigil
in Washington, DC, can youdescribe what everyone who attends can expect.
Then, well, first, anyonewho is hearing this, I cannot encourage
(14:41):
you enough. Please come to acandlelight vigil. If you can't make it
this year, then come next year. It is every May thirteenth. It
is open to the public. Itis on the National Mall right in the
heart of Washington, DC. Everysingle year we have upwards of forty thousand
people attend, and it is itis really really difficult to put into the
words the raw emotion, just thetangible feeling of grief, sorrow again redemption
(15:07):
to some degree, the celebration ofour heroes. If you have not been,
please come. Our candidate vigil isthe temhole event of all of Police
Week. It's the only major eventthat's opened to the public and to be
standing in the crowd where again youreally can feel that emotion, to hear
each of the names read most recentlyadded to our memorial to recognize the story
(15:28):
behind each of those names. Eachof those names is a father, a
son, a brother, a sister, a mother, a father, and
they were out there doing their jobto protect us, and they died as
a result. To be in thatcrowd, in that atmosphere, to really
recognize the service and sacrifice of somany, it is quite something to behold.
(15:50):
It really is staggering. It's aspecial time and special place, and
I cannot encourage everyone listening to thisplease go to a candilight vigil at least
once in your life, if notfor yourself, do it for the surviving
family members who are there. Andcertainly could use the encouragement of every single
citizen of this great country to saythank you. Thank you, family members
(16:12):
for allowing your loved one to goout and serve us and ultimately die in
that service. Bill Alexander, CEOof the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund,
you can learn more and support thetremendously important work they do at nl
EOMF dot org. Bill, Iwant to thank you so much for the
work you're doing with this organization andfor your service to this country serving in
(16:37):
law enforcement. We really appreciate thetime Ian Thank you. I am so
thankful that there are a few peoplein the media like you who are willing
and able to help tell the story. It's so appreciated in law enforcement certainly
appreciates your voice advocating for them andus. Thank you so much. All
right, thanks again, Bill,my pleasure. I'm Ryan Gorman here on
iHeartRadio Communities, and now let mebring in our next guest. I'm joined
by Brigady your General, Mike Eastman, executive director of onward Ops, which
(17:00):
you can learn more about at onwardopsdot org. And Andrew mccheron, president
of the pen Fed Foundation, whichyou can find online at Penfedfoundation dot org.
Thank you both so much for comingon the show and bringing to your
General. Eastman. Let me startwith you, what are some of the
challenges veterans face when they return homeand begin their transition back into civilian life.
(17:22):
I would describe those challenges as fallinginto two buckets. First, you
have the fact that you're living avery structured, regimented environment. Whether you
serve for four years or forty,you have a common purpose, a bond,
really a sense of who you areand when you leave the military.
For many many veterans, you feellike you're leaving that part of yourself behind,
(17:44):
and that's a challenge. At thesame time, you're confronting all the
decisions that anyone going through a majorlife change would have to sort out,
whether it's getting a new job,or getting a new house, getting new
medical coverage, or in the caseof a veteran, all of above.
And it's the convergence of all thosepressures in one discrete period of time that
(18:04):
we have found really benefits from goodinformation and then guidance of a mentor from
your community. In some of theinterviews I've done on this topic in the
past, some other things that oftencome up. You have veterans who are
dealing with PTSD and other issues fromthe time they served. They're also trying
to integrate themselves back into their familylife and with friends and all of that.
(18:30):
And then you get to the jobfront, and that can be a
challenge too. It's a lot,and for those of us who haven't served,
I think sometimes it's hard for usto fully understand what that transition is
like. Is a lot, butI feel like we are being proactive.
We are getting ahead, or tryingto with your help, getting ahead of
(18:52):
some of those negative consequences that comedown the road when there's that kind of
shell shock from becoming coming back tothe community. The Penfet Foundation exists to
empower veterans as they make that transition. So we really appreciate what onward Ops
is doing assigning a one on onementor in a hometown for every veteran that's
(19:17):
transitioning, and it has proven successful. So our call to action for all
of your listeners nationwide is really twofold. We're looking for mentors. Doesn't have
to be a veteran, just someonewho has a few hours a week to
you know, be there to givesome guidance. Think about the times in
your life that you may have madea geographic move. You need to figure
(19:41):
housing, a job, maybe schoolsfor your children, medical care. There's
a lot going on there. Soa mentor is just somebody who's a volunteer,
maybe grabs coffee, is there fora phone call or a text from
time to time. But we're alsoreally interesting and spreading the word about what
(20:02):
onward Ops does to support those transitioningfrom military service to the civilian world.
I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by Brigadyyour General Mike Eastman, executive director of
Onward Ops, and Andrew McCarron,President of the Penn Fed Foundation. So,
Andrea, I want to talk toeach of you for a moment about
your specific organizations, and let mestart with you give us an overview of
(20:23):
the work the pen Fed Foundation does. We have been in existence since two
thousand and one, and really we'rethere initially to support veterans at Walter Reed
Medical Center because we wanted to doour part to give back. So we've
been around for more than twenty threeyears now and we have three major programs,
(20:45):
Military Heroes, where we provide grantsand some emergency assistance and really are
looking to make an impact with partnershipslike the one we have with Onward Ops.
We also have a very successful servicedog initiative. He is not with
me today, but I am currentlyraising my sixth service dog for a veteran
(21:07):
first responder or someone else with adisability, and we're really encouraging that as
a way for those who may haveeither psychological challenges or physical challenges due to
their service. Service dogs are gamechanging when it comes to independence, so
that falls under our Military Heroes program. We also are very proud to support
(21:30):
veteran led businesses through our unique Entrepreneurprogram, which is now based in Bentonville,
Arkansas, probably best known as thehome to Walmart, also a very
military friendly community. Major companies thereJB. Hunt, Tyson's Foods, four
hundred of the nation's Fortune five hundredcompanies have a presence now in Bentonville,
(21:52):
Arkansas, so we thought it wasa smart place to move our program where
we mentor and support veteran led businesses. And finally, we're extremely proud of
our Afghan Allies program. When Kabofell back to the Taliban in August of
twenty twenty one, we rescued andresettled forty three Afghan women warfighters who served
(22:18):
alongside US special forces and were criticalin tracking down and capturing Taliban leaders.
They are now forty one of ourforty three have now been granted asylum in
the US. They're all taking Englishclasses, most of them have jobs,
they're learning to drive here. Sowe are a wide ranging organization, but
(22:41):
those are our three priorities, andwe could not believe that this is more
important than helping with that transition fromservice to community success. And again,
you can learn more and offer yoursupport to the pin Fed Foundation by going
to Pinfedfoundation dot org. Brigadier GeneralEastman, let me turn to you.
(23:02):
Tell us about the work that onwardOps does and how your organization first started.
So onward Ops exist to bridge thetransition between military service and civilian life,
and it fills a space. Thereare certainly great programs across the country
at the federal level on both theveterans side and the Department of Defense side
(23:22):
to provide resources to our veterans.The gap that we discovered was between the
federal and the local and it iswhere you get to the place you're going
to live where things start to getchallenging. So our program has been in
existence for seven years now and whatwe're doing is connecting community mentors with those
(23:47):
leaving the military within an ecosystem ofvetted and trusted resources. And we have
shown over time over the last severalyears of doing this that that simple human
to human connection really makes a difference. It changes lives for the better,
and it doesn't take a tremendous amountof time or energy on the part of
the mentor just the ability to answera phone call occasionally spend a couple hours
(24:11):
a month talking to someone makes aworld a difference. I noticed you have
two options for veterans making that transitionback into civilian life. You have a
guide for those who prefer to goon that journey alone. And then,
of course what we've been discussing,you have sponsors available. How does the
process work for each option? Youhave the option when you enroll in on
a program and either going solo andguiding yourself using our tools and our dashboards,
(24:37):
or going what we call co opand signing up for a sponsor or
a mentor right out of the gate. We recommend the individuals select a mentor
because we know the power of that, but at the same time, I
come from a culture where asking forhelp is not always something that's easy to
do. So we built the solooption to give folks a chance to start
(25:00):
planning their transition. And interestingly enough, there's a big red button at the
top of our dashboard that says,I would like a mentor. And what
we're discovering is thirty sixty ninety daysinto this process, when individuals have really
spent some time thinking about what theywant to do and where they might benefit
from some assistance, they are optingfrom the solo into the mentored co op
(25:25):
version because there's a tremendous amount ofpower in doing that. I'm Ryan Gorman
joined now by Brigadier General Mike Eastman, executive director of onward Ops, which
you can learn more about at onwardopsdot org, and Andrew mccheron, President
of the Penn Fed Foundation, whichyou can find online at Penfedfoundation dot org.
Brigadier General Eastman, I'm curious,do you have any examples that you
(25:48):
can offer up of a veteran whowas about to make that transition and got
a sponsor and how much that helpedthem along the way. I have more
than we probably have the time forit today, and it really runs the
gamut. It goes from the youngspecialist in Texas who planned to stand in
(26:11):
the military for twenty years and unfortunatelygot injured in training and all of a
sudden has to confront a change thatwas unexpected. And in that case it
was let's talk about a resume,let's talk about applying to college, let's
talk about what it means to rentversus buying a home. Working with his
sponsor John, in this case,he's now got secure housing stable housing and
(26:33):
he's starting a new career. Tothe other end of the spectrum, where
you have a more let's say,seasoned service member coming out of the Navy
who doesn't really know what they wantto do in the next chapter, but
has amassed a huge sort of arrayof skills and experiences. In that case,
we match this service member up toa sponsor. I think it was
(26:57):
Bonnie in this case, go fromI don't know what I want to do
too as we sit here today,a successful career in finance overseas something that
the service member never even considered becausethey didn't know those opportunities exist. And
Andrea, final question for you,just taking a look at both organizations,
(27:18):
how can people get involved who arelistening right now and think, you know
what this is again the least Ican do for those who have served this
country. And Ryan, what Ilove about your program is it's all about
community, and we are building community. You know, in the military,
as a military brat, I knowthere's this priceless sense of camaraderie and mission
and purpose. And we would loveto give your audience that same sense of
(27:41):
mission and purpose, whether they servedor didn't serve in uniform this is their
opportunity to go to Penfeedfoundation dot orgsign up to become a volunteer mentor.
I'm sure it will be life changing. And the other opportunity is whether you
are currently in the military and planninga transition out, or if you have
(28:03):
a loved one who might be transitioningout, let them know about this incredible
opportunity, free of charge, opento all branches of service. I really
believe Brian in the inherent goodness ofAmerica's Americans. They have huge hearts,
they want to give back. Thisis such a wonderful opportunity you can do
(28:26):
from your hometown. Won't cost youanything. Maybe a cup of coffee,
maybe a little guess to get toa location where you're going to meet this
veteran, but mostly if you havea phone, you have the opportunity to
mentor and make a difference, aprofound difference in someone's life. Again.
Andrea McCarron, President of the penFed Foundation, You can learn more and
(28:47):
offer your support at Penfedfoundation dot org. And Brigadier General Mike Eastman, executive
director of onward Ops. You canlearn more about that organization as well at
Onwardops dot org. General Eastman Andrea. I want to thank you both so
much, obviously for the incredible workyou're doing, important work, and for
coming on the show. We reallyappreciate it. Thank you so much,
(29:07):
Ryan, thank you all right,So again, two tremendous organizations that are
doing incredible work that I highly recommendyou check out, along with, of
course, the first organization we highlightedduring the show, the National Law Enforcement
Officers Memorial Fund. That's going todo it for this edition of iHeartRadio Communities.
As we wrap things up, Iwant to offer a big thanks to
(29:29):
all of our guests and of courseto all of you for listening. If
you want to hear previous episodes ofthis show, run your iHeartRadio app just
search for iHeartRadio Communities. I'm yourhost, Ryan Gorman. We'll talk to
you again real soon.
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