This is an email that was forwarded to me by one of my squad mates, written by Cst. Jason Zazulak of the Spruce Grove/Stony Plain G.I.S.  I want to thank Jason for taking the time to tell his story, and also for allowing me to publish it here for the benefit of our readership.  The 10th annual Alberta Police and Peace Officers' Memorial Day ceremony took place on Sunday, September 28th at 1:00 PM.

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You all will have received the e-mail about the Alberta Peace Officer Memorial Parade on Sept 28th. You may have read it or maybe you just deleted it. This last weekend I had the pleasure and honor of being on parade in Regina for the National RCMP Peace Officer Memorial Parade (the REAL Mountie parade, not the Ottawa version). There were 12 troops of 32 members there including the K Div troop. I believe that everyone has a story and a reason for being at the parade and I want to share my with you.

Brock Myrol and I attended the same high school in Red Deer and although he was two grades behind me I was friends with his older sister Kali. I remember Brock from high school. I also remember that day in March when I started getting phone calls about Mayerthorpe. I was at home and was Rob Kluz' trainer at the time. I got a call from Mike Harvey telling me that Brock was among the fallen and that he was headed over to the Royal Inn to tell Rob. Rob and Brock were troop mates and good friends. If you have ever met Rob's young son who was born after Mayerthorpe you are looking at Brock Kluz.

I also remember being at home in Bonnyville as a member and getting a phone call from my father who told me that Supt Dennis Massey had been killed in a PC car accident in Calgary. I had known Dennis since my high school years also in Red Deer and when I signed my documents sending me to Depot it was Dennis Massey who was there seeing me into the Force. Dennis was at my wedding and someone whom I admired greatly. He spent years on a UCO in South America and as a result lost his family. He believed passionately in giving it to the bad guys and was the only officer in the K Div building who always wore his sidearm as he knew that he was a policeman first and an officer second.

Lastly I remember the day I got a call from Dennis Travanut of MCU inquiring about a fella that I had arrested a month earlier and was on PROS. This person was wanted in the murder of one of our comrades. On that night a month earlier I had made a decision to not pursue a charge against a fellow who was drunk and causing a disturbance outside the River Cree. He was on bail already and maybe, just maybe the stars would have aligned and I could have got him remanded. But I didn't...I wrote RWS on the C-13 and continued on my way. Chris Worden's name was the second last of over two hundred read at the parade and my prisoner was none other that Emrah Bulatci.

After the parade Staff Sergeant Major Maeda thanked us for being there. He then said something I know I will never forget. He said that the reading of the names of our fallen comrades helps us to remember, but that as your service goes on the ones you recognize move from the end of the list to the middle.

The Alberta Peace Officer Memorial Parade is one Sunday out of the whole year. Please consider participating and showing your respect for those that have fallen and your commitment to those left standing. If you don't have your own story now, too soon you will.

Thank you for reading,


Jason Zazulak, Cst.
Spruce Grove/Stony Plain G.I.S.

RCMP

 

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