New York Yankees Promise To Pay For Slain NYPD Officer’s Sons’ Education

In the wake of the horrific assassination of NYPD officers Rafael Ramos and his partner Wenjian Liu, the New York Yankees foundation has promised to pay for the education of Officer Ramos’ sons.

Officer Ramos had two sons, Jaden, 13, and another in college. Officer Liu, 32, was a seven-year NYPD veteran. He had recently been married and had no children.

The Yankee Silver Shield Foundation was founded in 1982 by former team owner George Steinbrenner and former Olympian Jim Fuchs. It has been paying for the education for the children of police officers, firefighters, and port authority servicemen killed in the line of duty for nearly three decades.

From the foundation’s website:

We set aside an education fund for each surviving child to assist with tuition payments for prep school, college and university undergraduate and graduate school, vocational and technical school, and tutoring services…We send payments directly to the schools and tutors, and we maintain contact with the families to follow the children’s education.

Having their school paid for won’t come close to replacing a loving father, but it does go a long way to help ease some of the lingering pain this family is feeling.

Pain that is evident in the heartbreaking message Jaden Ramos penned to his slain father on Facebook.

“Today I had to say bye to my father,” Jaden wrote. “He was their for me everyday of my life, he was the best father I could ask for. Everyone says they hate cops but they are the people they call for help. I will always love you and I will never forget you.”

The Yankee Silver Shield Foundation is attempting to honor officer Ramos by funding his sons’ education.

Elsewhere Rep. Peter King of NY is urging that the same athletes who supported Eric Garner and Michael Brown, also show public support for the NYPD:

To honor the memory of the two NYPD officers who were assassinated yesterday and to demonstrate solidarity with the brave men and women of law enforcement, I urge college and professional basketball, football and hockey teams to wear NYPD insignia on their uniforms. This would bring honor and dignity to the NCAA, the NBA, the NFL and the NHL.

So far, Nick Mangold of the New York Jets, who wore an NYPD cap before his team played the Patriots Sunday, has shown his public support for New York cops.

Hopefully Mangold’s and the Yankee Silver Shield Foundation’s are the first of many examples of NYPD appreciation.

If you would like to donate to the Silver Shield Foundation, visit: www.silvershieldfoundation.org/contact.html