Officers who died in the line of duty were honored Wednesday during an annual Fallen Heroes Memorial Service.
The event was at the county Public Safety Memorial, which is outdoors at public safety headquarters in Gaithersburg.
“It should be our purpose to never allow our community and our community leaders to forget these heroes and their sacrifice,” County Police Chief Marcus Jones said Wednesday.
Rich Leotta is familiar with that ultimate sacrifice. His son, Officer Noah Leotta, was killed after a drunk driver struck him in 2015. Noah Leotta was a county police officer and a member of the Police Holiday Alcohol Task Force.
“I’ll come up here when nobody’s here, to this monument, and it’s quiet, and it’s nice, but it’s me with my thoughts,” Leotta said to MCM. “It’s nice to have a fellowship — as they said — that I’m not just sitting here by myself at this hallowed ground remembering Noah and all the other fallen.”
For each of the fallen officers, their name was read, a bell was rung and a memorial candle was lit. The officers named go as far back as Patrolman Joseph Case, who died nearly 100 years ago in 1928, up to Officer Kyle Olinger, who died in 2019.
“Today, as each name is said, and as we ring the bell, we should not only remember how these officers died but also how they lived,” Jones said.
