McLean, VA (December 24, 2024) - New Jersey State Trooper Philip Lamonaco was shot and killed during a traffic stop on December 21, 1981. His family was in the midst of making Christmas cookies when they received word of his death. He was buried on Christmas Eve. That was the tragic part of his story. But there was another inspirational part of the story—about helping and healing. His wife, Donna, put the shattered pieces of her life back together. She became a leader in the effort to build the national monument honoring Phil and his fallen colleagues, and she became one of the nation’s leading advocates for police survivors. She also raised three wonderful children. Her son, Michael, who was four years old when his father died, is now following in Phil’s footsteps as a New Jersey State Trooper. And nearly 30 years after Phil’s death, Donna offered a warm embrace and words of hope and encouragement to the surviving wife of a Texas police officer killed in the line of duty, Shane Detwiler. Listen to the podcast to learn more.
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