Two sheriff's deputies and two police officers honored at annual law enforcement memorial

For some who are still mourning the loss of law enforcement officers who served and died in the line of duty in Milwaukee County, years have gone by. For others, it's been a matter of months.

Yet they are missed all the same.

“We miss Charles Irvine’s smile, sharing funny jokes with him, and his personality that cheered others up when they were down,” said Andrew Wagner, the president of the Milwaukee Police Association. “We miss (Michael) Michalski’s guidance. We miss him as a role model on how to live and we miss him not being here to see us through all the tough times.

“We miss Peter Jerving’s friendship, his love of life and his protection to back up his brothers and sisters in their time of need.”

Wagner’s comments at the annual Greater Milwaukee Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony, which honors area officers who died in the line of duty, underscored what Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said moments before: behind every officer showered in a hero’s memory, there are basic human qualities that shouldn’t be forgotten as well.

“We come to renew our commitment to never forgetting those fallen officers, not just in revering them but to remember them as friends, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, husbands and wives –  as people who have left a legacy,” Kaul said.

The ceremony, held Friday at the Wisconsin Center, came nearly three months after Jerving, a 37-year-old with four years of service with the Milwaukee Police Department, was shot and killed while trying to apprehend a 19-year-old robbery suspect on the city’s south side.

Jerving was the first Milwaukee-area law enforcement officer to die in the line of duty since four other Milwaukee police officers were taken in such a manner between 2018 and 2019.

More than 150 people showed for the ceremony, including uniformed law enforcement from all across Milwaukee County.

While Jerving was on the minds of many – a moment of silence was held in his honor – Friday’s ceremony specifically honored two Milwaukee County sheriff’s deputies, Sung Hui Bang and Ralph Zylka, who died in a helicopter crash in 2000 and two Milwaukee police officers, Michalski and Irvine, who died in separate incidents in 2018.

Here are short biographies of the four officers:

Deputies Sung Hui Bang and Ralph Zylka

Bang was 31 years old and had three years of service while Zylka was 48 and had served 24 years when they were flying in a helicopter in south-central Wisconsin on Aug. 17, 2000.

The two were assisting in a large manhunt to find a man suspected of killing an off-duty Chicago police officer in Juneau County, and were instrumental in his apprehension. With Bang piloting the craft and Zylka acting as crew chief, the two began their return journey from Baraboo at 9 p.m.

But 40 minutes later, the craft crashed into a farmer’s field in Dodge County. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Both men have their names carved into the walls at the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C., according to the sheriff’s office.

Officer Charles Irvine, Jr.

Irvine was a 23-year-old who had four years of service with the Milwaukee Police Department and was assigned to District Four.

He died June 7, 2018. He and his partner were in a squad car pursuing a reckless driver when their car crashed on the city’s northwest side, killing Irvine and seriously injuring his partner.

Officer Michael Michalski

Michalski was 52 years old and a 17-year veteran of the Milwaukee Police Department when he was fatally shot while trying to arrest a man wanted on drug and domestic violence offenses on July 25, 2018.

He was first assigned to the District Two, where he worked until 2007. Afterwards, he spent time in the department’s street crimes unit, fugitive apprehension unit and special investigations division.

Contact Elliot Hughes at elliot.hughes@jrn.com or 414-704-8958. Follow him on Twitter @elliothughes12.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee area officers who died in line of duty honored at ceremony