When Kristine Rife visited the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial with her husband, she never thought she would return to add his name to the wall.
“It’s a thankless job,” Mrs. Rife said of police work.
Her husband, Metropolitan Police Sgt. Clifton Rife II, died June 2. He was off duty in Oxon Hill when a 16-year-old tried to rob him. Sgt. Rife told the youth that he was a police officer and drew his gun. Shots were fired, and both men were killed.
“You just never think it’s actually going to happen,” Mrs. Rife said yesterday after placing a red rose at the center medallion of the memorial on E Street NW between Fourth and Fifth streets.
Survivors and police from Maryland, the District and federal agencies gathered yesterday to add 11 names to the memorial. The circular memorial with fountains and statues of lions was dedicated in 1991 and now holds the names of more than 16,500 officers who have been killed in the line of duty since 1792.
“This memorial is a most vital piece of the mosaic that makes up our nation’s capital,” Metropolitan Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said as a cold rain started to fall.
Chief Ramsey said the memorial honors heroes who sacrificed their lives, noting that it stands among the monuments to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln.
Two D.C. officers died in the past year within days of each other. Sgt. John S. Ashley died of a heart attack on May 30 while assisting a Georgetown resident trying to catch a dog.
Chief Ramsey said Sgt. Ashley and Sgt. Rife were good officers who won’t be forgotten, thanks in part to the memorial.
“I’ve got a lot of friends here, and it hurts,” Chief Ramsey said.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Clark attended the ceremony to honor Officer Brian D. Winder, who was fatally shot in July when he approached two men in response to a 911 call.
Officers from the Prince George’s County police, Maryland State Police and Maryland Transportation Authority Police also were remembered, along with federal agents who were serving across the country, and one in Iraq.
Martha Wood, the widow of Baltimore police helicopter pilot Barry Wood, who died in 1998, said she returns to the memorial because she wants to help other survivors. She also said she wants to show the full story of police work and is looking forward to the opening of a museum near the memorial in 2009.
“This is real life,” Mrs. Wood said. “This is not TV.”
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