321 Fallen Law Officers: 'Respect. Honor. Remember.'

Thousands of people began flowing Saturday into Washington, D.C., for National Police Week, filling a sacred section of the Northwest portion of the capital and the national memorial honoring fallen officers.

Woburn Police Officer John P. Gibbons III, who was killed in the line of duty on May 4, 1999, is among those who will be honored. His name freshly etched into one of the two 304-foot-long marble walls that are now part of the living National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.

Gibbons suffered a fatal heart attack after being kicked in the chest by a woman while responding to a disturbance call.

Middlesex County Correction Officer James Callahan, Sr., who was killed on August 24, 1973 due to a heart attack after being assaulted by an inmate, was also honored with his name on the wall. 

The names of more than 19,000 officers who have been killed in the line of duty are etched into those walls. This year, 321 were added.

The curving blue-gray marble with all those names on it was dedicated in 1991, and it has become the focal point of National Police Week every year since, with friends, families and fellow officers trekking to Washington to, as one entrance to the memorial implores, "Respect. Honor. Remember."

"The whole week is going to be important to us because we'll be with people who know what it's like when a police officer doesn't come home one night," said Nick Gresko, of the Ohio town of Berea, whose brother, Willoughby Police Officer Jason Gresko, was killed while on duty Sept. 21.

He, the officer's widow, and other family members had just placed paper over the engraved name on the wall. Then they took pencil to the paper to create a traced impression of the name, their way of taking the name on that wall home with them.

The officer had visited this very memorial just a couple days before he was killed and had planned to travel with his wife, Sandra Gresko of Cleveland, for this year's Police Week.

"He wanted to come back," she said. "That's why it's so important for me to be here. For all of us to be here."

National Police Week, established in 1962, pays special recognition to those law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. Events are held throughout the week.

On Monday, thousands will gather at the memorial for a candle-light vigil, where Officer Yung's name will be read along with 320 others that have been added to the wall since last year. A service and wreath-laying will be held on Wednesday.

National Police Week 2013 full schedule of events.