Michigan State Police troopers salute dead MSP officers for Memorial Day

Steve Rando, a trooper for the Michigan State Police, stared solemnly at a headstone in Jackson's Woodland Cemetery saluting, his hand at his forehead. MSP Sgt. John Hicks was buried at Rando's feet, the state flag planted next to Hicks' marker, reading "Feb. 10, 1938 – July 19, 2011." It was Rando's first stop at Woodland Cemetery.

The trooper, along with two others, traveled to nearly 10 cemeteries Thursday, May 21, to plant a Michigan flag, salute and pray for 21 dead MSP officers, a Memorial Day weekend tradition the Jackson post has performed for decades.  The majority of officers died after retirement, some in the line of duty. The headstone of one officer, Guy Baugh, dates the late trooper with a birthday in 1891.

Others hit closer to home for Rando. "That one was tough," Rando said of trooper Manuel Fields, an officer struck by a car in 1994 while performing a routine traffic stop on I-94. He was 34. "I was started out on the force when that happened," he said. "I heard a lot about him, met him a couple of times. He was a really great guy, a likeable person."

Rando said headstones with the American flag represent a buried veteran and headstones with a Michigan flag represent an MSP officer. Some headstones, like Hicks', fly both. There are more than 500 current MSP officers across the state who serve or have served in the armed forces as well as the police force, Rando said. "It's the least we can do to thank them for their service," he said.