LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Early Tuesday morning, American flags showing the "thin blue line" blew in the wind across the street from the Highlands Funeral Home
Community members watched in tears, as the body of 29-year-old LMPD Officer Zach Cottongim was loaded into a hearse and driven to his visitation.
It's another death in the LMPD family, another visitation at Southeast Christian Church and another hard hit for LMPD's First Division -- the same team that lost Officer Nick Rodman in March 2017.
"You've got some young kids out here that haven't served a long time but have lot two friends in five years. That's traumatic. That's very, very traumatic," George Rodman, Nick's dad, said.
George Rodman was one of the first to arrive at the visitation. He knows Officer Cottongim and his family personally. He said he worked alongside Zach's dad on the force and he trained Zach. He also knows the grief better than most.
He said, "It's crushing. There's no other way to put it. You have Jamie his wife- his two babies 4 and 10 months. We went through it with Ashley- at the time my grandchildren were 2 and one month."
Rodman said Cottongim was a hardworking officer, and a little bit quiet. "He was an old country boy. That's what I used to call him- an old country boy. He was kinda quiet but you knew he had a good heart. I know when he was down here on the streets, just like a lot of the officers, he did a lot of great things we don't know about."
The 8-hour visitation brought in law enforcement and their families from near and far. Former LMPD Chief Steve Conrad came to pay his respects.
Rodman said, "No matter what differences we have as a police department- when something tragic like this happens we put it to the side, you can see our blue family and the community rally around us and that's truly what these kids need."
He said support from the community is critical right now, as officers watch another casket covered with our country's flag signal the reality of the ultimate sacrifice.
"I implore with the community -- tomorrow and these next few days, and down the road, we have to put our uniforms on and go back to work. And they will do that. So when you see them, tell them thank you, tell them you appreciate them because that truly will go a long way," Rodman said.
Officer Cottongim's funeral is scheduled for Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. at Southeast Christian Church.
►Contact reporter Shay McAlister at smcalister@whas11.com. Follow her on Twitter (@WHAS11Shay) and Facebook.