She was the wife of one of the most famous fallen law enforcement officers in U.S. history: Dallas Police Officer J.D. Tippit, who was shot and killed on November 22, 1963, by Lee Harvey Oswald. Officer Tippit had heard the broadcast of the shooting of President Kennedy and stopped a suspicious Mr. Oswald less than an hour later. Although that stop resulted in Officer Tippit making the ultimate sacrifice, without him no one can ever be sure if the President's assassin would have been caught so quickly.

Despite her husband's notoriety, Marie Tippit had never visited the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial ... until National Police Week 2008. With the help of Dallas Police officers, Mrs. Tippit and her son, Curtis, visited the Memorial on Monday morning, May 12. With heavy rain falling around them, Mrs. Tippit gazed at her husband's name, tears mixing with a sad smile in an emotional moment for her and her family. NLEOMF Chairman and CEO Craig Floyd presented Mrs. Tippit with a framed picture of her husband and an etching of his name. She also sat on the stage during the 20th Annual Candlelight Vigil and received a standing ovation when introduced.

Read more in the Dallas Morning News

With glowing candles held high and a sharp blue laser light overhead, an estimated 20,000 people packed the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial on May 13th for the 20th Annual Candlelight Vigil in honor of America's fallen law enforcement officers. Approximately half of the two-hour ceremony involved the reading aloud of all 358 names that were added this year to the Memorial's walls. They include 181 officers who died in 2007 and another 177 who died in yesteryear, but whose sacrifice had slipped through the cracks of history.

In keeping with tradition, the U.S. Attorney General, Michael Mukasey, delivered the keynote address and read the first group of names — 10 law enforcement professionals who made the ultimate sacrifice from the state of Alabama. He was followed by dozens of names readers that included NLEOMF board members, police chiefs, sheriffs, federal law enforcement leaders and survivors from across the country. Along with Jean Hill, national president of Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS), General Mukasey also lit the Memorial Candle, from which the lighting of the thousands of candles in the crowd began.

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See the list of officers added to the Memorial this year and some facts and figures on the Memorial

Although the "official" Police Unity Tour's arrival ceremony had to be canceled because of severe rain and some flooding, it didn't stop the committed group of bicycles riders from having a rain-delayed gathering. Riders and supporters gathered at the Memorial on the evening of May 12 to distribute medals and announce that the PUT raised more than $1,227,000 this year for the National Law Enforcement Museum.

Bad weather wasn't new for the estimated 1,200 police officers and other supporters who had biked over three days from starting points at Liberty State Park in New Jersey and Virginia Beach, Virginia. Though disappointed at not being able to ride the final leg into the Memorial — an amazing sight each Police Week — the PUT members felt pride in once again "riding for those who died" and in raising a record sum of money.

Since 1997, the Police Unity Tour has raised more than $5.5 million for the Memorial Fund and Museum. In 2005, the PUT pledged $5 million toward building the first-ever National Law Enforcement Museum in Washington, DC, making it the largest contributor to date to the $80 million capital campaign. The PUT is sponsoring the Museum's Hall of Remembrance.

Learn more about the Police Unity Tour