A Salute to the Fallen

The last time Kristin Burt was at the California Highway Patrol Academy in Sacramento was the day her husband, Don, graduated. The couple sat together quietly at a memorial fountain where the names of slain officers had been engraved.

“I told him, ‘As long as I never see your name on that fountain, I’ll be happy,’ ” Kristin Burt recalled Wednesday, as she was preparing to make her second trip to the academy--this time to add her husband’s name to the fountain’s list of fallen officers.

Last July, rookie CHP Officer Don J. Burt was killed while making a routine traffic stop, shot seven times at a Fullerton gas station. The defendant faces the death penalty if convicted. At the time of the slaying, Kristin Burt was pregnant with the couple’s only child.

Burt and three other Orange County men slain in the line of duty will be recognized tonight in Sacramento during a candlelight vigil in memory of California’s 14 law enforcement officers who died last year due to injuries suffered while on duty. The California Peace Officer’s two-day memorial service will conclude Friday morning with a ceremonial roll call of the fallen officers.

It will be just one of the many memorial services that Kristin Burt has attended in the year since her husband’s death. And they all tear her in two. Painful reminders of her loss, the services also give her a measure of relief by bringing back pleasant memories and ensuring that her husband will not be forgotten.

“I do want to have some private time. I haven’t had a chance to go through Don’s things, I haven’t had a chance to sit down by myself and think about how this has affected my life,” Kristin Burt explained Wednesday, describing the “horrifyingly hectic” last year.

“On the opposite end, anything and everything regarding my husband is special, whether it’s now or 70 years down the line, so I don’t want it to end,” she said.

Their son, 7-month-old Cameron Don Burt, remains a joyous reminder of her husband.

“He’s got my mouth, and a couple of my expressions, but everything else is Don,” Kristin Burt said. “And he smiles and he laughs just like Don. That’s what I see the most.”

Don Burt’s parents, Don and Jeannie, will join Kristin Burt when they place a rose at the foot of the Peace Officer’s Memorial on Friday. His father, a Riverside County CHP sergeant, said he didn’t hesitate to make plans to attend the ceremony.

“It’s an honor,” he said. “It honors my son.”

The president of the memorial foundation, Santa Ana Police Sgt. Don Blankenship, said times like these join families who possess a common bond of tragedy.

“The one thing they’re left with is that they belong to a larger family, and maybe that their loved ones will never be forgotten,” he said.

Other officers being remembered are Brea Police Department Det. Terry L. Fincher, Placentia Police Officer Joey Little and Long Beach Police Officer and Fullerton resident Karl Simons.

A veteran detective, Fincher was struck by a train and killed May 22, 1996, while searching for crime scene evidence near the train tracks.

“Had the crime not occurred, he would have been at home with his family” the night he was killed, lamented Brea Police Chief William C. Lentini, a keynote speaker at Friday’s service and Fincher’s close friend.

Little, the Placentia officer, was on duty in 1989 when a car ran a red light and slammed into his patrol vehicle. He lived, but suffered for years with severe body and brain injuries. He died Aug. 7, 1996, at age 40, when he asked to be removed from his life support.

“He suffered for a long time, he couldn’t walk anymore,” said Matt Reynolds, Placentia police services supervisor and Little’s friend. “He basically said, ‘Please let me go.’ ”

Simons, the 26-year-old Long Beach officer, was killed in October 1996 while responding to a report of a stolen car. While speeding to the scene, Simons’ cruiser struck another vehicle.

“It was a very emotional time for us,” recalled Long Beach Deputy Chief Dale Brown.

It seems like death often comes to the very young, eager officers and those with small children, Blankenship said.

“They all seem to be 24 to 34 and they all have young families,” he said. “They are the ones who always seem to be in harm’s way.”

For the Burt family, the emotional and physical toll of traveling to memorials doesn’t end yet. The family expects to attend the National Police Memorial in Washington on May 15, and a May 28 memorial service in Orange County.

“There isn’t any way of preparing for it.” Kristin Burt said. “If I sob, I sob.”