The Tribute

In the very early hours of Good Friday, Austin Police Senior Officer Jaime Padron was shot and killed when he responded to a call at the Wal-Mart a few miles from our house.

Everything that we read and hear about Officer Padron is that he was a good man; a decent man, an adoring father of two young girls, an ex-Marine who served his country and his city with valor and honor.

Services for Officer Padron were held Wednesday, and thousands of his fellow officers from around the state and nation came to honor him. Afterwards, Police and Emergency vehicles from almost every city and township in Texas, and some from neighboring states, took part in a procession that began in North Travis County and proceeded down IH-35, through downtown Austin, a procession of vehicles that stretched some 18 miles in length.

The service and procession times and route had been broadcast for several days, in that southbound IH-35 would be completely shut down for several hours, from Highway 45, in the northern part of the county, to Highway 71 at the southern edge. The procession was to have started at 1PM. Barb and I were in the area of the shopping center that borders IH-35 to our North a little after 1PM; cars and trucks and people were lining the roadsides. Some just stopped and parked on IH-35. A half-dozen truck tractors had lined up in a row, caution lights flashing.

Not surprisingly, the service ran long - way long. I was keeping current with a Twitter feed from the Statesman, and it was obvious that it was going to be quite a while before the procession, so we finished our business and returned home. A little later, I drove up to the Breaker overpass area, parked the car and walked out onto the overpass itself. There were several dozen people already there, as well as others parked along the access road, some sitting on their vehicles.

There were a couple of older gentlemen on the overpass, and I took up a position with them. I told Barb that at first I placed these gentlemen in my father's generation, then realized, no, they are in my generation. We talked quietly about law and order and the lack of respect and the general breakdown of society at large while we waited. Two fire department hook and ladder trucks pulled up on the overpass behind us and stopped, and their crews took up position with us. By this time people were two and three deep across the overpass; there were now 6 or 8 large American flags in display. I'm told that this scene was repeated on every overpass on the route.

It was obvious when the service itself was over - a number of police vehicles joined the southbound traffic, hurrying back to duty stations. As they neared the crowded overpass, many of them made a little blip with their sirens; some used their loudspeakers to say "Thank You."

At about 2:45PM, the southbound traffic dwindled to just a few cars, then no cars. It stayed that way for about 5 minutes, then a long line of Officers on motorcycles came down the Interstate. There was a pause, then the hearse, motorcycle patrolmen at each wheel, came into sight. Behind them, as far as you could see, police cars with emergency lights flashing.

The firemen had taken a position on one of the trucks; they were standing at attention, saluting. Looking South, there were people lined up on either side of the Interstate. Some had yellow balloons. Some had flags. Many had signs. And so it was, I'm told, all through town, along IH-35, and then along Highway 71. At that point, a smaller contingent continued through the Hill Country and people lined the highway, the streets of Llano and the streets of Brady. Police vehicles from San Angelo had joined the procession along the way, to escort Officer Padron to his hometown.

And on the common police band used for all the procession, came the radio call:

"Badge 6674 is now 10-42, End of Watch. Godspeed Jaime."