Distinguished Service Award Recipient 2002

President George H.W. Bush

President George H.W. Bush
President George H. W. Bush was presented with the Distinguished Service Award by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) for his outstanding support of America’s law enforcement officers, especially the important role he played in establishing the national monument honoring our nation’s fallen police officers.

“During his presidency, America’s police officers had no stronger advocate,” declared NLEOMF CEO Craig W. Floyd. “He honored the law enforcement profession with his participation in the Memorial’s groundbreaking ceremony in 1989, and again in 1991, when he and Mrs. Bush dedicated the Memorial. We were proud, indeed, to inscribe a particularly moving excerpt from his groundbreaking speech on this Memorial. It reads: ‘Carved on these walls is the story of America, of a continuing quest to preserve both democracy and decency, and to protect a national treasure that we call the American dream.'”

President Bush was also the first American President ever to attend and speak at the National Peace Officers Memorial Day service, which is held annually on May 15 at the U.S. Capitol. “Thanks to his leadership, it is now a tradition that the President of the United States attends and speaks at that important event-a tradition upheld by his son last year,” Mr. Floyd observed.