St. Jude's

St. Jude's

Sat, 04/12/2008 - 12:00am — admin

We've noticed, as have a large number of our readers, an upsurge in comments advocating a boycott of the St. Jude's march. We've allowed these comments for the same reason that we allow most of the other comments - we don't censor out of hand and it's important to keep readers aware that these sentiments exist. We were also hoping someone would write something eloquent and heartfelt to counter the anti-march feelings.

In reference to anonymous: regarding the St. Jude Tribute March. Today is April 10th, and 54years ago today, a very special person was born into this world. This very special persons' name is Chicago Police Officer Donald J. Marquez. My brother Don's End of Watch was March 19, 2002.
To the few officers' who say let's boycott the St. Jude March, to make a statement to the new Supt.: please let me explain that this St. Jude March is not about the new Supt. It is not about the Mayor, nor any other politician. It is a very special day for us, the Chicago Police Departments' Gold Star Families. It is one day out of the whole year when about 8,000 or more officers come together and show honor, respect, support, and love to our families. They march to let us know that our loved ones who paid the ultimate sacrifice, will never be forgotten. There are partners and co-workers who worked with our heroes, and they too still come out to show us their support.
My phone just rang, it's about 11:30pm, I said, "who would be calling me this late?" It was my brother Don's close friend, Officer Fernando Alonzo. He called me to tell me he and his family have been thinking about my brother Don all throughout the day. I told him, you would not believe what I am doing, I told him I am on the police blog trying to explain what the St. Jude March is all about, what are the chances that he would call me at this exact moment. He shared how he and his family miss my brother. If my brother was alive today, he would be having a celebration with his buddy and pal Alonzo right now. So you see Officers, we need to see you in unity out there on Sun. morning May 4th. You make us feel so proud that we are still a part of the police family. We look forward to seeing the officers march in loving memory of our fallen heroes. Some Gold Star Families come from across the United States to be a part of this special march. Sgt. Mark Golosinski (16th) and a few other officers' who commented and said, "the only people you would be hurting are the families of our fallen officers". They are absolutely correct. Today my brother Don would have turned 54 years old. He served and protected this city for 20 years, he had just become a brand new grandfather for the first time. Just as he was so proud to be a brand new grandfather, he was also so proud to be a Chicago Police Officer. His life was taken from us, from a 77 year old who opened fire on my brother as he was serving a warrant. Officers, you never want your family to ever become a Gold Star Member. It is so true when someone said, "this is one organization you wouldn't want to belong to". This pain in our hearts is real, it never goes away, how could it, we loved them, we miss them and til the day we reunite in heaven with our loved ones, we will never, ever forget why they died, they died doing something they loved, and that was serving and protecting their city.
I encourage you to look beyond all the changes that are happening, just for one day. We lost our heroes in the line of duty. You see, when we lost our officer and our loved one, all of our lives changed. I tried not to cry today, but I miss him so much. I wish I could just call him one more time and hear his voice, and tell him Happy Birthday. If you knew my brother Don, you were so blessed, he was the greatest brother that ever lived. I would like to personally say thank you to each one of you for coming out and showing your respect and support. You are a very big part of our healing process. We appreciate you and we honor you the living. We are extremely proud to be part of the greatest police department in the world. Believe me, we never stop praying for you and every officer. Go home to your families tonight, tell them how much you love them while there is still time left.
Donna Marquez
President of The Gold Star Families

any comments please feel free to email me at donnamarquez8620@yahoo.com

Long time readers of the blog will remember we took a number of people to task for advocating a boycott a few years ago over the Hampton sign controversy. Our opinion then, and our opinion as it remains to this day, is that the march is for our dead. We don't march for the mayor, the superintendent, the brass, the media or the citizenry. We march for the men and women who can't march anymore and we remember the sacrifices they made.

A boycott of St. Jude's is a lazy boycott. People are attempting to take a well known event that honors our dead and twist it into something it should never be instead of creating their own event, developing a following, and making a statement there.

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