Water Resources Development Act of 2007

Floor Speech

WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2007 -- (Senate - May 14, 2007)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

NATIONAL POLICE WEEK

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, this week, the week of May 14, is National Police Week, and the streets here in Washington, DC are filled with tens of thousands of law enforcement officers, their families, and their children. This is the week we recognize 17,917 officers whose names are inscribed on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial here on Judiciary Square, all of them people who gave their lives to make our communities a safer place.

It is the week we recognize 145 fallen heroes of our Nation lost this past year. The people of Alaska give thanks that we did not lose a law enforcement officer in the line of duty during 2006. This is also the week we add the names of 237 additional law enforcement officers to the memorial. These are officers who lost their lives in the line of duty in generations past but whose stories did not come to light until now. One of those 237 officers is William George Pfalmer, Jr.

Officer Pfalmer's career with the Anchorage Police Department came to an end on June 9, 1953, when he was shot following a traffic stop of a stolen vehicle. He was shot in the left arm and the right shoulder, shattering his spine and causing him to spend the remainder of his life in a wheelchair. Officer Pfalmer lost his battle to survive those wounds on December 26, 1970, at the age of 45, after undergoing one of many corrective surgeries.

I rise today in tribute to Officer Pfalmer and I rise to share the remarkable story of a present-day Anchorage officer, Officer Cathy Diehl Robbins, who made sure Officer Pfalmer's contributions were not lost to history. But for Cathy's determined research, the name of William George Pfalmer, Jr. might never have been inscribed on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.

When Officer Pfalmer was shot on June 9, 1953, the city of Anchorage did not even pay him a full day's pay. At the time, the city did not offer a pension to police officers, nor did it compensate them for their injuries. Officer Pfalmer, who was 27 years old at the time, turned in his badge--which so happened to be badge No. 13--and was left to fend for himself. Anchorage is a city well known for its community spirit. This was true in 1953, it is true today. Officer Pfalmer was named Anchorage's Father of the Year, and the community helped to raise $13,000 to help the family through their difficult time. But that was not enough to enable the Pfalmer family to remain in Alaska.

A World War II Coast Guard veteran, Officer Pfalmer moved his family to California where he could receive medical treatment without charge from the VA. The officer's wife Eleanor was his full-time caregiver. They were tough years financially, but love and commitment held the family together. Officer Pfalmer kept his family afloat for most of those 17 years by purchasing cars at auto auctions, reconditioning them, and reselling them. His three sons, Glenn, Garry, and Greg, helped out after school repairing the cars under their dad's supervision. The three sons were literally their dad's arms and legs. They all became mechanics, a trade their father taught them.

The Pfalmer family assumed that their father's service with the Anchorage Police Department was long forgotten, until one day, out of the blue, son Greg received a call from Cathy Diehl Robbins. Cathy, who had been researching the history of the Anchorage Police Department in her own time, came across an article of some 10 years earlier. That article led Cathy to believe there was a hero who somehow had fallen through the cracks. Cathy would not let go and was determined to run the story to the ground. After diligent research, she discovered the story was true. She tracked Greg down on the Internet and learned that his father was the Anchorage police officer
she had read about. She wondered whether the officer was still alive and, sadly, learned he was not. Cathy then made it her mission to ensure that Officer Pfalmer's contributions were not forgotten.

On June 9, 2006, 53 years after the fateful incident that cost the officer his career, the Anchorage Police Department acknowledged Officer Pfalmer's loss as a line-of-duty death. He was subsequently recognized by the Alaska Peace Officers Memorial, and this year his name is inscribed on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.

It is fitting that Cathy Diehl Robbins was invited by the National Law Enforcement Officers Fund to read Officer Pfalmer's name at the annual candlelight ceremony, which was held last night, Sunday, May 13. I am pleased that Garry Pfalmer, one of Officer Pfalmer's three sons, was able to travel from Fairbanks to witness the ceremony.

During this National Police Week, we remember fallen officers for the way they lived their lives, not the way they gave them. Today, we remember Officer Pfalmer not only for the events of June 9, 1953, but also for the support and the inspiration he provided to his family during the next 17 years: a hero at home and a hero in the service of our community.

During this National Police Week, we recite again and again the phrase that ``heroes never die.'' So let us spend a moment to reflect upon the life of Officer Pfalmer, and as we do, let us acknowledge the efforts of an angel named Cathy Diehl Robbins, who brought the story of Officer Pfalmer back to life.

Madam President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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