Remembering a Hero: Father Reflects on Fargo Officer Jake Wallin, Fallen in the Line of Duty

FARGO, ND (trfnews.i234.me) A father, talks about his son, Fargo officer, Jake Wallin who was killed in the line of duty July14th at a Celebration of his Life.
thank you thank you very much on behalf of myself my wife Amy son Brady and Beyonce winter thank you for having us today as my wife and I sat down to think about what we might say today we thought of a few words on how we got here like many teenagers getting ready to go into their senior year Jake was not ready when he was going to do not sure what he was going to do after he graduated when one day he came to us and said he was going into the Army Reserve and we needed to sign for him as he was only 17. his mother and I said is this really what you want to do as we understood the commitment of six years and the very real probability that he would get deployed Jake persisted that is what he wanted to do and two weeks before his 18th birthday we signed for him to join after graduate after graduating he went to basic and job training and then came back and rolled at alexandritech for law enforcement shortly after that he was deployed to Afghanistan during the deployment he volunteered for other locations as help was needed besides his main assignment to this day we still do not know every place he went and what he encountered when he returned home within several weeks he already had a place with her brother in arms to once again set out on his own during that time he struggled with what he wanted to do as that was near the time of multiple events involving law enforcement he tried multiple security jobs and then the paid recruitment opportunity came up with the Fargo Police Department at that time we asked again is this really what you want to do just like the reserves we were concerned with his safety and once again he insisted this is what I want to do he was accepted into the program and passed all his criteria to graduate when it came time for badging he was reluctant to have us and his fiancee come to it as he was very protective of all of us he decided to let us come and I was given the honor of badging him even after the badging he didn’t want us to tell anybody what he did for a living as he had that protective Force kicking in again little did he know at the time that the event was a public event and it was all over the Fargo Police website on the way on my way on the way home my wife and I commented to each other that after meeting everybody at the badging he truly had made the right decision and we’re extremely happy that he chose the Fargo Police Department our son has been given the proper honors and laid the rest so it’s now it’s now time to concentrate on others and the future yesterday we met with officer Doris and Haas in the hospital as you might imagine it was a very emotional experience we also met with officer Robinson as well as many other individuals in the Fargo Police Department too numerous to mention Jake would have been extremely concerned about his fellows and brothers in blue officer Robinson would have been Jake’s hero and what he strived to be the rest of his police career and without a doubt he would have achieved it all of these individuals including the entire Fargo Police Department as well as officers all around the country are still hurting and need our prayers and support as we go forward we are Fargo PD resonates loud and clear but let’s not let this slowly fade away and only be brought up again when something happens again let’s make every day we are Fargo PD take pride in your community every day work with your police support the place in every way possible and every day as we start figuring out who to thank we found that it was impossible to list everyone as the outpouring of support and well wishes have been something well beyond anything we could imagine we would however I would like to specifically mention our thanks to the Fargo Police Department the National Guard the state of Minnesota and North Dakota as well as all the law enforcement enforcement agencies across the U.S and all they have done for us and all the support they have offered to us I often joke that if I wanted to go on a milk from Fargo I would have one three hours later by a police escort most importantly we wanted to thank you to citizens of Fargo for all your kind love words of love and support as we do not live here we initially do not know the Outreach from the community we started looking at the Fargo PD websites as well as other social sites and it became very clear of your love and support for us looking through cards Sunday night there were many cards for Fargo and surrounding area for people we did not know and did not know Jake condoling conveying their condolences equally too important to us is the love and support that Fargo Community has shown to officer dotas and Haas and their families during the time of recovery as well as the support for the entire Fargo Police Department I would now like to read something written by my brother-in-law and Jake’s uncle in memory of Jake the overwhelming support that has been shown to our family at this time is astonishing it’s easy to forget the extent of compassion that exists in the world following such an inexplicable tragedy it afterwards affords opportunity to move forward with possibly the most crucial thing we need hope hope that Jake’s sacrifice was not in vain hope that the ideals Jake stood for are truly appreciated by those he swore to protect nothing can make us more appreciative of the young man that Jake became the service to his country and fellow man is well documented he is recognizing that as an individual who stood between those he vowed to protect and those that wish them harm we do not believe Jake would Harbor any regrets he was not in the wrong place at the wrong time it was exactly where his heart and determination for his fellow man dictated that he should be there at that moment he is a hero if there’s a message my wife and I can convey to everyone here chillin follow your dreams and parents support your children in their dreams even though it may not align with yours when Jake was young somebody called him Jacob and he replied back to them I am Jake just Jake two others he was officer Jake Wallin or Sergeant Walling at us he will always be just Jake thank you [Applause] foreign