In Eternal Rest

I never dreamed it would be me,

My name for all eternity,

Recorded here at this hallowed place,

Alas, my name, no more my face.

"In the line of duty," I hear them say:

My family now the price to pay.

My folded flag stained with tears;

We only had those few short years.

The badge no longer on my chest,

I sleep now in eternal rest.

My sword I pass to those behind,

And pray they keep this thought in mind.

I never dreamed it would be me,

And with heavy heart and bended knee,

I ask for all here from the past:

Dear God, let my name be the last.

• Sgt. George Hahn (LAPD-Ret)

This poem is carved on the base of the Police Officers Memorial in Sacramento, California.