JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The sounds of taps filled Oaklawn Cemetery Tuesday as Officer Brad McNew was placed in his final resting place.
Not only was he surrounded by law enforcement officers, family and friends, but even community members who didn’t know him felt compelled to line San Jose Boulevard to honor his service.
“We think it’s the right thing to do to come out and pay respect to somebody else that’s fallen," said Bob Baughman, who waved a flag for McNew in front of St. Joseph's Catholic Church.
Baughman comes from a family of first responders and military personnel, so when he learned what happened to Corrections Officer Brad McNew, he wanted to fly a flag during the procession to honor him.
“There’s really not a good reason for it, and I don’t believe there could ever be a justification for it, so I do get emotional," said Baughman.
Baughman wasn’t the only one emotional as McNew’s widow, Elda McNew, shared a few thoughts before the mass crowd of law enforcement officers from as far as Pasco County and Brunswick.
McNew shared the two met at band camp, making beautiful music together through the decades of marriage.
When he told her one day he wanted to give up teaching music and become a law enforcement officer, she at first joked “I decline.” But, she grew to appreciate the role he played in the community.
“Her comments about how they met, the life they lived together and how happy they were totally resonated with me because now there’s a void," said Retired Jacksonville Sheriff's Officer Ken Jefferson. "He’s no longer going to be there, only his memory.”
Jefferson says the massive gathering for the mass and burial shouldn’t come as a surprise.
“It’s a family," said Jefferson. "It’s a brotherhood, sisterhood. It’s something that hits you at the core as it would a blood relative.”
Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters shared during the mass that McNew’s decision to sacrifice his life for a stranger who needed help made him the ultimate public servant.
Baughman also has a message for McNew’s family.
“Have hope," said Baughman. "Remember him. Cherish those memories. I hope he lives forever.”
During the service, the priest offered up a prayer that McNew and his daughter Elizabeth, who died from COVID four years ago, are together now.