News

Trooper John J. McKenna IV to be included on NYS Memorial Wall

2/18/2010 9:06:20 AM

On Feb. 16, the State of New York Officers Memorial Advisory Committee voted to include Trooper John McKenna IV’s name on the NYS Police Memorial Wall in Albany. PBA President Thomas H. Mungeer sits on the committee in his position as PBA President.

Trooper McKenna was shot and killed on Aug. 16, 2006 by enemy fire while serving in Iraq as a Captain with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves.

It may be difficult to believe, but the inclusion of John’s name on the State of New York Police Officers Memorial Wall was no easy task. The requirements for consideration for inclusion on the memorial are that the individual be a police officer as defined in the Criminal Procedure Law and that he/she be “slain in the line of duty.” Since John’s death was classified as combat-related, he was excluded from consideration in 2007.

In 2008, John’s parents, John and Karen McKenna, began a crusade to have their son included on the memorial. They contacted then-PBA President Dan De Federicis and Tom Mungeer (who was PBA First Vice President at the time), and they discussed several options for moving forward. The route they decided to take, and which ultimately proved successful, was to show that John was acting in a police capacity when he was killed.

Three members of the military sent letters of support and outlined that John took the skills learned in the New York State Police Academy and applied them to urban combat in Fallujah, Iraq. He trained his unit to perform duties such as: interacting with civilians, traffic control and stops, surveillance, defensive and arrest tactics, crime scene investigation, evidence gathering and courtroom testimony. Through these skills that his unit learned, ironically, led to the capture and arrest of the sniper who killed John. Through steady police work, cross-referenced tips and intelligence, a name and then a photograph was produced. A Marine spotted the subject in a crowd at a market and he is still in jail.

New York State Police Superintendent Harry Corbitt also wrote a letter of support for John’s inclusion on the memorial. The 6,000 active and retired PBA members thank the Superintendent for his actions.

The unveiling of John’s name, along with 18 other officers who were killed in the line of duty – including Trooper David Lane, who was killed on Nov. 4, 2009 – will be held on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at 1 p.m. The ceremony will be held at the State of New York Police Officers Memorial Wall at the Empire State Plaza.