{"id":31056,"date":"2021-03-16T22:53:20","date_gmt":"2021-03-16T22:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/03\/16\/florida-cop-marine-corps-and-army-reserve-veteran-hailed-at-funeral-for-seeing-everyone-as-family\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:44:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:44:37","slug":"florida-cop-marine-corps-and-army-reserve-veteran-hailed-at-funeral-for-seeing-everyone-as-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2021\/03\/16\/florida-cop-marine-corps-and-army-reserve-veteran-hailed-at-funeral-for-seeing-everyone-as-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida cop, Marine and Army Reserve veteran hailed at funeral for seeing everyone as family"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Officer Jesse Madsen<\/a> considered everyone he met to be family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was born to a young mother who loved him but knew she couldn\u2019t care for him, so he went home from the hospital with an adoptive family. After a few weeks, the family decided his skin was too dark and he was given up again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Jesse turned 6 months old, Bruce Madsen, a single father of two, adopted him. As the boy grew up, he showed a unique capacity to love strangers as if they were family. He was more than a son, Bruce Madsen said. He became a real-life superhero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWas he Superman? Batman? Tony Stark? No, he was Jesse Madsen,\u201d Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan said during the officer\u2019s memorial service Tuesday at Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz, Florida. \u201cThose fictitious superheroes got nothing on him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the circumstances, Dugan said, someone was going to die the night of March 9 as Master Patrol Officer Jesse Madsen drove home on Interstate 275 and a call came in about a wrong-way driver<\/a>. Madsen made the split-second decision to keep driving<\/a>, Dugan said \u2014 to lead by example, to turn fear into courage, and to sacrifice his own life for others he would never know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He intentionally maneuvered his patrol SUV into the path of a speeding, impaired driver, according to police, in an attempt to stop him and save others. Both men died on impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis was not a car accident<\/a>,\u201d Dugan said. \u201cThis was done on purpose to save lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A memorial plaque is carried into funeral services Tuesday for Master Patrol Officer Jesse Madsen at Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz. [ DIRK SHADD | Times ]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Staring down the interstate, into the headlights of an oncoming driver was a scenario Madsen had thought about before, his friend and colleague Cpl. Terry Sims told mourners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJesse and I had specific conversations about how to stop a wrong-way driver, and that night he did instinctively what we had always planned to do, years ago,\u201d Sims said. \u201cFirst man in, last man out, leading by example. \u2026 If he was here, I think Jesse would tell us doing these things is worth it, and that it\u2019s an honor to serve others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, it\u2019s hard to let go of a hero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One by one, soldiers, police officers and family members sobbed as they spoke Tuesday at Idlewild church about their lion-hearted friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the funeral, officers from across the state escorted Madsen\u2019s body to the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, where he was interred with full military honors in a private ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Madsen spent 16 of his 45 years as a Tampa Police officer and served three tours in Afghanistan with the military. He joined the Marine Corps in 1994 and served for four years, getting out at the rank of corporal. He later joined the Army Reserve and went to Afghanistan. He suffered serious injury when an improvised explosive device exploded under his Humvee, yet finished his tour of duty and earned awards for his service.<\/p>\n\n\n\t