Police Chief Presents Plaques for Reservists Serving in Persian Gulf

San Diego Police Chief Bob Burgreen honored the men and women from his department who have been called to active duty in the Persian Gulf by creating a plaque for each of them and inviting relatives and friends to an unveiling ceremony Monday.

Burgreen spoke briefly about each reservist before asking a representative to step forward to unveil each plaque. The plaques are mounted above the entrance to police headquarters downtown.

One by one, before an audience of 150, relatives and friends pulled on long yellow cords to unveil a total of 22 paper-covered plaques. Only one reservist, Sgt. James Wallace, was there to unveil his own.

“This is the San Diego Police Department’s contribution to the effort in Saudi Arabia,” Burgreen said. “They are truly the finest.”

The majority of Police Department reservists called to active duty were officers, ranging from lieutenant to patrol officer, but some held civilian posts. Georgina Holmes, an Army reservist sent to a hospital in Dubai to serve as a nurse, worked in the crime laboratory examining evidence.

Even though Holmes’ last name was misspelled on her plaque, daughter Leila Inniss said she was “very proud of it. I think they did a great job.”

Holmes left for training Jan. 2, Inniss said.

Inniss’ older sister, Etirsa Inniss, left a modeling job in Italy to watch Leila, 16, while their mother was away.

“It just makes me feel we’re not the only people who are sad that she’s gone,” Etirsa said. “And that other people are thinking about her too.”

The clear plexiglass plaques, 18-inches wide and 2-feet tall, bear a bright blue star with a metallic seal of the branch of the service to which the reservist belongs and the reservist’s name. They will be given to reservists when they return, said police spokesman Bill Robinson.

The plaques are the brainchild of Sgt. Fred Hoyle, who recalled that, during World War II, families displayed in their windows pennants embossed with a blue star to signify a loved one at war, Robinson said.