Here's Tim's letter about why we designed it and what it means to us:


The story of the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Kilt© 2008 Rocky Roeger-Tim Welch. Letter by Tim Welch


Recently I visited the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93 in Shanksville Pennsylvania and was touched by all of the things that visitors placed at a makeshift memorial. All were personal items such as signs, fire helmets, toys, pictures, police patches and children’s drawings attached to a fence. One thing that I found particularly interesting was the symbolism displayed on several homemade flags. It was a very moving experience.

As a retired police officer, I was aware of the number of law enforcement officers who died in the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11 and I wondered if any officers had perished on any of the high jacked aircraft that day. I found out that one did. A passenger on Flight 93 named Richard Guadagno was an officer with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. His name is engraved on the wall of The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington DC, along with seventy-one of his fellow officers who died that day at the World Trade Center.

A few weeks later a friend showed me the Firefighters Memorial Kilt© that was designed and sewn by Kelly Stewart of USA Kilts & Celtic Traditions. He explained that the lines in the middle of each square of the tartan design were 3 red threads, 4 red threads, and 3 red threads – representing the 343 NYFD firefighters who lost their lives on 9/11/2001. As a snare drummer with a bagpipe band, I have had a lot of experience wearing kilts over the past eight years. That is when I got the idea for the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Tartan©. It would honor all of the seventeen thousand nine hundred twelve fallen law enforcement officers throughout history and incorporate the symbolism that I was so struck with at Shanksville.

I met with Rocky Roeger of USA Kilts and gave him my ideas for the tartan I wanted to design. He too had considered designing a police memorial tartan to pay homage to law enforcement officers who fell in the line of duty. We discussed what this tartan meant to us and decided to team up on the design. We spoke about the different colors to use and the symbolism that would be incorporated and Rocky designed the tartan that night. Less than a week later, we had approval from the Scottish Tartans Authority on the name and design.

Fifteen percent of all revenues of the Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial Tartan will be donated to COPS, Concerns of Police Survivors. They are a certified charity who provide resources to surviving families of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. They also help to educate the public about the need to support law enforcement and its survivors.

Thank you for your interest in our tartan. I hope this short letter helps to explain why it means so much to us.

Sincerely,

Tim Welch Sr. badge #18
Newtown Township Police Department, retired
Delaware County, Pennsylvania USA