A Unique Brotherhood

The HCPA Honor Guard has 26 men from 21 departments. Their diversity creates a form of unity by showing a bond between each of the departments.

Story, pictures, and videos done by Breslin Sand

It’s 4:30 a.m. on Thursday morning of February 28, 2019. Officer Ritchy Tuazon has been here since midnight. It is quiet. Everything is still. He does not talk. He does not respond. He does not check his phone. He is on duty. Yesterday was a 12-hour shift. Today will be close to seven. In the past two days, he has seen his wife for an hour at most. He can’t think about that. He is thinking about the body next to him. The service he provided. How to honor him as he lays in his casket.

From the time of death to when the body is laid to rest, the Hamilton County Police Association Honor Guard does not leave the body. Taking shifts at all hours of the night into the day, these men stand watch. One day or eight, they are there.

The HCPA Honor Guard’s primary purpose is to provide funeral honors for fallen comrades. There are a full-service honor guard complete with a standard color guard, fire team (21-gun salute), casket carry with flag folds, 24-hour casket vigils, the bagpipes and taps. Anything needed for a ceremony or an officer’s death, the HCPA Honor Guard can provide. Most traditions stem from military honor guard tradition.

Officers Ritchy Tuazon (left) and Steve Watt (right) on the morning of Thursday, Feb. 28.
Officer Steve Watt stand vigil over Nicholas Galinger at 6:15 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 28.

Tuazon stands resolute in front of the casket of Officer Nicholas Galinger for 15 minutes every hour. This is not his first fallen brother, nor will it be the last. Galinger is the third officer this year he has protected.

It is the least he can do. His expressionless face masks the weariness he feels. Counting tables, lamps, portraits, floor boards, anything to pass the time. Despite the tiredness and the inside jokes behind the scenes, it is strictly business on duty. He shows the utmost respect for the men and women who bravely served.

Three men and women are in another room with coffee and a table of donated food watching Animal Planet. They snooze in office chairs until their shift. They are from both the City of Cincinnati Honor Guard and the HCPA Honor Guard. But tonight, they are one in the same. They are bonded through service. It’s a brotherhood.

No one is being paid to be there. They don’t do it for the overtime. Nor the glory. It is a sacrifice that them and their families make for those whose made the ultimate sacrifice.

Officers changing guard while relative of Officer Galinger comes to pay his respects

“It’s not just what I go through,” Tuazon said. “It’s what my wife goes through. It’s what my two daughters have gone through for years. What makes it worthwhile is that during my sacrifice, I know that I am doing it for my fellow brother and sister. As much as my family gives [time] up for me, I am giving it up for their family. And they deserve it.”

Tuazon is not the only one giving up sleep and time with family. Most men do so without second thought. For Officer Marc Schildmeyer, it is to properly recognize an officer’s contribution and recognize the impact on the family that being an officer can bring. For Officer Derek Setters, it is to provide closure for the family and provide healing. For Officer Jeremy Jordan, it’s about the children.

“For me, it’s the little kids,” Jordan said, starting to tear up. “Seeing the little kids looking at you in your dress uniform, it’s shiny, it’s clean, it’s pressed. To see all of the officers show up for their parent and to make them understand that their parent and their job actually meant something.”

Like Jordan and Tuazon, each officer is quick to thank their own families. They believe their family’s sacrifice for them is greater than the one they provide. It is one something that strengthens them on duty.

A Unique Brotherhood


“You look at this entire group and you’re going to see short, tall, fat, skinny, you name it. It’s not what’s on the outside, it is the belief system on the inside that’s going to keep you here on this unit.”

Ken Poppe, HCPA Honor Guard Commander

The HCPA Honor Guard was established in 2002. In 2000, it was merely a conversation in between Officer Charles McDonald from the city of Forest Park and a higher-ranking officer, Phil Cannon. It was McDonald’s idea that there should be a county-wide honor guard. It wasn’t until his untimely passing during S.W.A.T. training that lead to the creation of the HCPA Honor Guard.

Fast forward to almost 17 years later, the HCPA Honor Guard is one of three multi-jurisdictional honor guards in the country. And 2019 is the first year that it has been the major honor guard at a funeral, not the supporting.

Each police department protects different jurisdictions in Hamilton County. Police departments have different rules and regulations to follow. For example: Loveland, Anderson Township, and Milford are all unique and different communities with their own needs. Each jurisdiction is run according to what works best for their own community. Milford Police Officers may not be able to provide the same level of service to Anderson or vise versa.

 There are existing politics and competitions between departments. It makes the idea of multi-jurisdictional units unfathomable to most. Officers during Police Week in Washington D.C. gawk at the HCPA Honor Guard, wondering how they work together, Setters and Schildmeyer describe.

Normal units are made up of about 10 men and women from one department and one jurisdiction because that is where an officer has sworn to serve. The HCPA Honor Guard has 26 men from 21 departments. Despite the tradition of unity through looking the same, these men bear different uniforms.

“You look at this entire unit and you name it, it’s going to be here,” HCPA Honor Guard Commander Ken Poppe said. “You look at this entire group and you’re going to see short, tall, fat, skinny, you name it. It’s not what’s on the outside, it is the belief system on the inside that’s going to keep you here on this unit.”

Their job demands high dedication. Their dedication forges a bond that makes them closer to each other more than their everyday coworkers.

On a normal training day, they act like true brothers. They poke fun at heights and ages. Calling the older men “grandpas” or “dads” of the group. They’ll claim one guy made Sargent because the department felt bad for him. When preparing for a funeral, the men will huddle on their bus to keep warm. They laugh together while Jimmy Buffet’s “Margaritaville” plays in the back. Some even dance.

However, once the funeral procession arrives, they are present. There is nothing they take more serious.

“It’s funny, we all complain, especially the bagpipe guys about how cold it is, but you never hear a complaint during the funerals,” Officer Steve Watt said. “It’s a priceless thing.”

HCPA, City of Cincinnati, and Chattanooga Honor Guards together after Officer Nicholas Galinger’s funeral on Friday, March 1.

The Bagpipe Unit

Officer Steve Watt’s claim to fame was introducing the Sherriff’s Office Bagpipe Unit almost 27 years ago. What started off as only a few events yearly soon grew to over one hundred events each year.

When there is need for a pipe band (bagpipes and drums) at a funeral, Watt reaches out to the 98-member “Ohio Law Enforcement Pipes and Drums” GroupMe asking for anyone who is available. Some men will respond, others will simply show up. Regardless of the distance.

Depending on departments and how the officer died, on average, there are about 15 bagpipers at a funeral, such as Officer Galinger’s. However, other funerals like Sony Kim’s in 2015, there can be upwards of 78 bagpipers playing to pay respects.

“Same as being on the [HCPA] Honor Guard, it is such a close-knit thing it’s unbelievable,” said Watt.

The bagpipes were introduced into Honor Guard and military tradition when the Irish immigrants would play the pipes for one of their own in the fire or police service who had passed. Ever since, the funeral procedure had kept up with the tradition of playing the bagpipes.

Kilts are worn out of tradition too. The colors represent the departments they come from. Those in red kilts are Hamilton County.

At funerals they’ll play traditional Scottish and Irish songs, hymns from different branches of the military, and “Amazing Grace.” “Amazing Grace” and “The Irish Spring Song” are two of the most requested that they play.

The next day, Watt plays with the pipe band at Mt. Moriah Cemetery for Officer Galinger. The band performs “Minstrel Boy” when the funeral procession arrives. When the flag is folded and the body is ready to be lowered, the he will play one last song before walking away.

Watt left Mt. Moriah with the pipe band and the honor guard saying goodbye to one fallen brother and wishing it would be his last goodbye.

Click below to watch the pipe band preform “Minstrel Boy”:

Source list:

  • KEN POPPE, commander
  • 513.703.4985
  • kpoppe2@hotmail.com
  • STEVE WATT, bagpiper/member
  • 513.478.6325
  • swatt@mariemont.org
  • RITCHY TUAZON, member
  • 513.405.9203
  • MARC SCHILDMEYER, member
  • 513.332.8847
  • marc.schildmeyer@cincinnati-oh.gov
  • DEREK SETTERS, member
  • 513.478.5235
  • dsetters@zoomtown.com
  • JEREMY JORDAN, member
  • 513.791.8056
  • jeremeyjordan@deerpark-oh.gov

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