Honor Guard Members Set Up "Field Of Honor" To Remember Fallen Officers
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Rows of small flags stand in front of the Chicago Police Gold Star Families Memorial in tribute to fallen colleagues.
Members of the department's honor guard and other law enforcement set up the Field of Honor in the soggy grass along the lakefront on Monday morning.
The 575 flags, half U.S. and half the city of Chicago, represent all the officers who've died in the line of duty or due to complications of the job. WBBM's Nancy Harty reports.
"Each one is being placed into the ground to celebrate and to remember that life of one of the Chicago police officers that has died in the line of duty or died while performing duty," said Officer Donald Scott.
The Police Memorial Foundation said no Chicago cops have died in the line of duty since December 2011.
Officer Clifton Lewis was fatally shot while trying to stop a robbery at a grocery store where he worked as a security guard.
The honor guard will hold a 24-hour vigil at the memorial starting just after midnight Tuesday morning.
Officer Donald Scott is one of the volunteers who will be working a four-hour shift marching and standing guard overnight.
