Page 10 - Police World Edition 2 2013

10
Article
Police World Vol 58 No.2 2013
T owards the end of 2010 I learnt about
the Section USA friendship week that
was going to be held in November
2012. This event was to celebrate the Section’s
50th anniversary. Regular readers of Police
World will know that I am very fond of the USA
so there was no way I was going to be missing
this four night event! The location was
Bethesda, Maryland which is on the outskirts of
the District of Columbia.
One of the key moments of this trip for me was
to witness a speech given by President Obama
as he addressed attendees at the Veterans Day
at Arlington Cemetery.
This opportunity came about as I enjoyed a
social evening on the Saturday which proved a
great opportunity for meeting people. There was
a really diverse mix of people - in total there
were 207 attendees from 16 different countries.
I made acquaintance with Lorraine Altieri from
New York Police Department (NYPD) on the
previous evening. Lorraine has already become
a very good friend. During the evening Calvin
and Diana Chow, friends whom I had met on a
previous trip, invited me to attend Veterans Day
the following day. As this was a free day for all
attendees I accepted - especially when I learned
there was a possibility I could see the President
of the United States of America!
The next morning we arrived at Arlington. A bus
took us to the amphitheatre where we were able
to sit just a 100 metres from the stage where
President Barack Obama would be delivering a
speech to the Veterans. The Presidential
Helicopter landed and shortly after 11am the
President and First Lady, as well as the Vice
President entered the amphitheatre. President
Obama delivered an inspirational speech and I
felt very honoured and privileged to see and
hear the man himself.
Afterwards we explored Arlington Cemetery
before getting some lunch together and
returning back to the hotel for the evening’s
entertainment - which was good food and wine
with friends.
Among the other highlights of this fantastic few
days was a visit to the International Spy
Museum and the National Crime and
Punishment Museum. On the morning of this
trip I was joining the coach and it was with a
pleasant surprise that I saw May-Britt Rinaldo,
President of Section Sweden. I had only met
May-Britt the month before at the 11 Region
half yearly AGM. May-Britt was invited because
11 Region is twinned with May-Britt's Region.
We all attended a memorial service that was
held at the National Law Enforcement Officers
Memorial in Washington DC in memory of our
19 fallen IPA friends of Section USA. I, with
several other attendees from countries including
Russia, France, Luxembourg, Sweden and
various states from the USA wore uniform. It was
a very moving event with a piper from the Fire
Department. The names of the fallen officers
were read out by Steve Livingstone, Chair of the
50th Anniversary event as well as 1st Vice
President of Section USA.
Another memorable moment occurred on
Sunday evening. I finally managed to meet in
person Mr Bud Lathrop, the US Associate
Secretary to Section UK. After exchanging
several emails since I became a member of the
IPA in 2009 it was really fantastic to put a face
to the emails! I also re-connected with Carmen
Alvelo who I met earlier in 2012 in New York City
(NYC).
The last day of the friendship event arrived too
soon. That morning I made acquaintance with
Eddie Benitez, who is a retired NYPD detective.
He has an apartment in Brooklyn that he lets to
IPA members. As part of an extension to my trip I
was going to be heading to NYC the following
week and Eddie kindly offered the use of his
apartment to me, the amazing generosity of IPA
members left me speechless as I gratefully
accepted Eddie's offer!
It was on this final day that we visited Fort
McHenry in Baltimore to learn about the history
of the American flag and the War of 1812 where
the Americans successfully defended their
Harbour against the British Navy. After this there
was a visit to the harbour front in Baltimore and
time for lunch with friends and for others the
opportunity of some retail therapy. I took the
opportunity to taste some amazing Maryland
crabcakes!
The evening was formally opened with a
‘Presentation of Colors’ (the flags) by the
Combined Forces Color Guard of the Military
District of Washington followed by a soloist from
a local singing group who sang the US national
anthem. The Honor Guard consisted of all
branches of the US Military (Army, Navy,
Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard). I also got
the opportunity to meet the International
President Pierre-Martin Moulin who also was in
attendance. Section Canada’s founder,
Reverend Charles Wright, who was instrumental
in the formation of Section USA with the US
Founder Harold Litwin, was a guest speaker. The
United States Section was formed on 26
February 1962 in Toledo, Ohio with a total of 30
members and was officially recognised in
Geneva, Switzerland at the IEC in June 1962.
Gifts were then exchanged between the various
countries and I got the opportunity to present a
beautiful glass globe to Kevin Gordon, President
of Section USA .
All attendees were asked to sign a banner which
had been made for the event, the plan being
that the banner would be kept safe for
displaying at the 100th anniversary of Section
USA, which I calculate that if I am lucky I could
attend as a sprightly 84 year old!
An Audience
with
President
Obama
Donna Powell from 11 Region was so keen to
revisit the US after her first trip in 2010, she was
the first person to register for Section USA’s
50th Anniversary event. Donna tells of her
adventures over the pond.
President Obama
Officers from various countries at the Memorial Service for fallen USA IPA members