Hartford, Conn./WTIC Radio - Police officers from around the country gathered in Hartford Wednesday for the funeral of Connecticut State Police Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier.
Pelletier, 34, was killed when he was struck on the job by a hit-and-run driver last Thursday while initiating a traffic stop on Interstate 84 in Southington.
His widow Dominique was among those who spoke. The Pelletiers are the parents of two young sons, Troy and Zachary.
"He was a man of integrity and honor and I will make sure our children always know those traits definitely came from him," she said.
She says Aaron was able to balance work and family, despite being noted for enthusiastically accepting overtime work: "Although Aaron was known as being a worker, never one to turn down an overtime shift, he never let that get in the way of his commitment to his family... My challenge to you all is to make sure you make time to make memories. It's ok to say 'no' to the overtime shift from time to time."
During the service, Pelletier was awarded with a posthumous medal of honor and lifesaving medal.
State police commander Col. Daniel Loughman says that just a week before his death, Pelletier saved the life of a biker whose motorcycle had crashed.
"Upon arrival, TFC Pelletier found the operator lying in the roadway with extensive blood loss," says Loughman. "And he was able to identify a torn artery in the operator's left arm. Without hesitation, he used his hands to close the torn artery, until another trooper arrived." Working together, he says, they used a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
