As dawn brushed the Wisconsin skies with the first light of day, the solemnity of the Sunrise Guard Mount ceremony at the State Capitol in Madison brought together members of the Honor Guard from law enforcement agencies across the state, including those from the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office. A Facebook post from the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office shared the participation of Corporal R. Seidemann and Deputy B. McInnis in this time-honored tradition that honors the sacrifices made by fallen law enforcement officers.
Held on the Friday before National Law Enforcement Officers Week, the event commenced at 5:00 in the morning, with attending officers having undergone a mandatory training session to ensure strict precision, however, the gravity of the occasion transcended the mechanical aspects of the ceremony, reinforcing the unwavering commitment to respect and memory. Cpl. Seidemann and Dep. McInnis, as a part of these honors, maintained a ceremonial guard at the memorial and stood alongside the wreath within the capitol, as reported by the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office.
The duties on that day saw the pair not only keeping watch but also participating in the transfer of the wreath to the memorial site, a gesture that signifies the unbroken continuity between those who serve and those who have laid down their lives in the line of duty. According to the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office, Cpl. Seidemann fulfilled the role of the Sergeant of the Guard, orchestrating the coordination of ceremonial protocols among the many participating units.
Veterans of the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office Honor Guard since 2011, Cpl. Seidemann and Dep. McInnis represent the last of the original Honor Guard team, their over a decade of service marks testament to not only to their personal dedication and reverence for their colleagues but to the collective consciousness of loss, remembrance, and fraternity that binds the law enforcement family together, even as they uphold the weighty onus of their station and the unvoiced narratives of those absent.
