Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

I haven't left a reflection for 2 years and I was able to read today all 18 pages of reflections left here. You lived your life to glorify God and exemplified His love to your fellowman throughout your life and career. You have impacted everyone you ever came in contact with and now, with your passing, have even impacted those who never knew you. You are amazing in your selflessness and I can only imagine the pain this has caused your families and all those who love and miss you. Thank you for your extreme sacrifice and your willingness to serve and protect. The majority of us appreciate the job
you do on a daily basis.
Lynn Kole
Bellingham, WA

May 17, 2008

Not a day goes by that I don't think of you, Susie and the girls. We all miss you terribly.

Melinda
FCPD

May 9, 2008

Dear Mike,
It is hard to believe that two years have already gone by. There is rarely a day that doesn't go by that I don't think about you and your family. I miss your smile but most of all your company, it will never get any easier.

God bless you and your family

MPO Perry Knicely Retired
FCPD

May 9, 2008

It rained today, just like that day two years ago that will be etched into our minds forever. But I know while we had rain you and Vicky watched over us from Heaven where you are surrounded in eternal sunshine. You are both missed dearly and will always be remembered.

PFC
FCPD

May 8, 2008

I remeber when this incident occured, Some other officers and I came to Washington DC for police week a couple days after the death of both officers. It was a sadder week that year because we lost two of our own during "Our Week". I still wear the T-Shirt that I bought the following year with both of your names on it.

You will never be forgotten.

Officer Kyle D. Matlock
Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Ohio

May 8, 2008

MPO Garbarino,

Sir, 2 years later and you and your family are still in my thoughts and prayers. God Bless...

Motor Officer
City of Fairfax PD

May 8, 2008

Remembered today, remembered every day.

Shawnee Ryan
wife of FCPD APO

May 8, 2008

"Always Remembered... Never Forgotten"

"Heroes Live Forever"

May 7, 2008

"The Badge"

He starts his shift each day
To respond to calls unknown.
He drives a marked patrol car.
A police officer he is known.

He's paid by the citizens' taxes
To make it safe on the streets.
But he usually has a second job
'Cause a waitress has his salary beat.

Now he doesn't know a holiday
'Cause he works all year round.
And when Thanksgiving and Christmas finally arrive
At his home he cannot be found.

He's cursed and assaulted often,
The one whos blood runs blue.
He seldom ever gets a thanks,
To some he's just a fool.

His friends are always other cops
'Cause people just don't understand
That underneath his badge and gun,
He's just another man.

He knows there might not be a tomorrow
In this world of drugs and crime.
And he gets so mad at the court system
'Cause the crooks don't get any time.

And each day when he leaves for work,
He prays to God above.
Please bring me home after my shift
So I can see the ones I love.

But tonight he stops a speeding car,
He's alone down this ole' highway.
It's just a little traffic infraction.
He does it everyday.

Well, he walks up to the driver's window,
And his badge is shining bright.
He asked the guy for a driver's license,
When a shot rang through the night.

Yes, the bullet hit its mark,
Striking the officer in the chest.
But the Department's budget didn't buy
Each officer a bullet-proof vest.

So he lay on the ground bleeding.
His blood wasn't blue - His blood was red.
And briefly he thought of his loved ones
'Cause in a moment the officer was dead.

In the news they told the story
Of how this officer had died.
And some who listened cared less,
But those who loved him cried.

Well, they buried him in uniform
With his badge pinned on his chest.
He even had his revolver,
He died doing his best.

Written By:
David L. Bell
Sergeant
Richland County Sheriff's Department
Columbia, South Carolina
Used with Special Permission of the Author
Copyright © 1993 - All Rights Reserved
and may not be duplicated without permission

Investigator David L Bell
Richland County Sheriff's Dept., Columbia, SC

April 2, 2008

Mike,
Your daughter Natalie left us a note. I responded hoping she would revisit Vincent's site. She said
"MY Dad was your best friend! I would have loved to meet you"
We appreciated her writing....gave us a little more insite re your friendship with our son Vincent. I'm sure Vincent would have loved to have met Natalie.
He was deeply sadden when you passed away. I am sure you and "Vinny" are together again in heaven or the spirtual world as some would say.
Our prays are for you and your family.

Leona DarConte

Leona DarConte

February 22, 2008

i remeber you would allways would say you oh me 25 cents and when you said there was a zebra in the bastment. i miss you sooooooooooooo much.

ilove you and miss you ,
mckenna

McKenna
2nd dad

February 20, 2008

my dad was your next door neighbor so was i. i remember when you would be mowing the lawn on the weekend (every weekend) but i still remember you

Kristen
Next Door Neighbor

February 20, 2008

Thankyou sir for your service and sacrifice, you are a true hero to us all. GOD bless your family and friends, you ill never be forgotten

POLICE OFFICER
PHILA PA

February 12, 2008

My husband is a fairfax county officer and a good friend of yours, he misses you everyday. He always has such great Gabby stories to share. I hope your family is doing well, watch out for everyone here please.

February 7, 2008

Gabby,

Happy New Year! We still miss you dearly. We know you are watching over the girls and the rest of us. God bless your family.

December 31, 2007

"Heroes Live Forever"

12/31/2007

December 31, 2007

Mike, Thinking of you and your family, God Bless..

Terri Doyle
Fairfax County Police (Ret)

December 27, 2007

Merry Christmas Mike,
Thank you again for your friendship and wise words through the years

A J ABDO

December 24, 2007

I want to tell the Garbarino my family is thinking of them this week, though we think of them often. I am proud and inspired by your words in court, you are a strong wife. May God continue to watch over your family, and I wish you all a blessed Christmas and a hopeful New Year.

Shawnee Ryan
wife of Fairfax APO

December 22, 2007

A hero is never forgotten, and you Gabby are a true American hero.

VA

December 20, 2007

I just wanted to post the reflection of what Mrs. Suzanne
Garbarino said in court to the father of the shooter who enabled his son to get weapons and commit the terrible acts on that awful May day!

Reprinted from the Washington Post:

Police Widow to Shooter's Father: 'You Are Not a Man'
Thursday, November 8, 2007; 2:40 PM
Suzanne Garbarino, the widow of slain Fairfax County police officer Michael Garbarino, spoke today in U.S. District Court in Alexandria during the sentencing of Brian H. Kennedy, whose son Michael Kennedy shot and killed Officer Garbarino and Detective Vicky Armel on May 8, 2006. Here is the statement she read:

"Thank you Your Honor for giving me an opportunity to express my thoughts. Ever since May 8, 2006, I have purposely avoided making any public statements about the tragic events that unfolded that day, thanks in part to the outstanding protection that was afforded to me and my girls by our loving 'family' -- the Fairfax County police. However, if I think that my words may have a bearing on the outcome of the sentencing of the man whose son murdered Mike and Vicky, then I would like to take this opportunity to say how his actions have affected and changed our lives forever. Unfortunately, my late husband and Katie and Natalie's daddy cannot speak, so I will speak on behalf of Mike. "I hope, Mr. Kennedy, when you are sentenced today, that the judge gives you the maximum allowed by law, and then some, for the pain and suffering you have caused our family over the past year and a half.

"On that fateful day in May, when Mike and Vicky were gunned down in cold blood in the back of the Sully Station parking lot, what was one of the first things you did after you found out what had occurred? Was it to cooperate with the police in trying to help them piece together the crime scene? No, Mr. Kennedy, you chose to do exactly the opposite. The first thing you did was think of yourself, shield yourself from the police, refuse to speak to them during this whole process and obtain a lawyer. Your extreme arrogance and refusal to take responsibility for your actions is what angers me the most. You were not able to step up to the plate, be a man, and responsible parent and cooperate with the authorities for the bloodbath your son caused. Instead you chose to run from it. "Maybe if you would have learned how to own up to your mistakes several years ago, not only would Mike and Vicky be alive today, but your son may also be alive.
"What type of person would feed his son drugs every day knowing the extent of his emotional problems and keep an arsenal of guns scattered around the house for him to have access to? A parent that chose to do the wrong thing and not take responsibility for his actions.

"One thing that infuriated me more than anything else was when I read in one of the papers after Mike and Vicky had passed away, that you or your wife stated, 'I lost a son, too.' Yes, you lost a son, but the sad part is, you didn't have to. And don't ever forget that even though he was your son, Michael Kennedy was a murderer, and you chose, as his parent, to guide him down the wrong road. In the words of Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, 'Brian Kennedy didn't pull the trigger, but he sure did provide it.' Don't think for one moment that you deserve the same level of sympathy for your loss. Your son was a cold-blooded murderer and died because of the choices he made that day. If he wasn't killed in the back parking lot, who knows how many other police officers would have lost their lives."

Did you ever think of that? Probably not.

"You couldn't be a more selfish and self-absorbed person. I said person, not man, because you are not a man. One indicator to me that you wanted to address what happened, and had some feeling of empathy for what we were going through, would have been an apology. Would it have changed anything? No! But it would have helped. It would have told me something about your character. By not apologizing personally to the families spoke volumes about the type of person you are.

"Well, today I will apologize to you and tell you that I am sorry that you lost your son. It didn't have to happen. There isn't a day that goes by that Katie, Natalie and I don't feel the horrible pain that your son, the murderer, inflicted upon our family. As far as I'm concerned, justice will not be served today for the part that you played in the killing of two well-respected Fairfax County police officers and leaving their families to pick up the pieces, because you knowingly made the wrong choices for your son. I will accept whatever the judge decides to give you, and try to move on with our lives. I do hope, at the very least, when you are in your jail cell, that you take a moment to think about not only yourself and your son, but how his actions and your toxic influence on him affected so many other people, their lives, what they are struggling with, and whom they lost. It is called humility and empathy. And yes, it takes a man to do that.

"Your son was a murderer. Don't you ever forget that. You could have done something to prevent him from earning that title, but you chose not to. Think of that every time you start feeling sorry for yourself and the son that you lost."

MPO Perry Knicely - Retired
Fairfax County PD

November 9, 2007

Gabby,
Sue did a great job in court today and the father who could have helped prevent everything was sentenced to prison. We where all as proud as you in listening to Sue give a remarkable victim impact statement. We are all better people for having known you. Keep up the fight my brother, untill we meet again.

November 8, 2007

Gabby,
My heart still breaks for you and your family.
Oh how I wish things had turned out differently. But I know that God needed another Angel, Please watch out for all of us!

November 1, 2007

hey gabby,

just a note to say hi! Miss ya bro. Thanks for watching over us!..smr slr

PFC
fxcopd

October 24, 2007

Mike,
I was coming back from NC tonight and noticed the flags at half-staff. It reminded me again of you and Vicky. I miss you, think of you often and I'm grateful I knew you. Thank you!

PSCA III

October 20, 2007