Honoring the fallen
Ceremonies recognize law officers’ sacrifice
A lone bagpiper walked slowly through the grounds of the renovated Oklahoma Law Enforcement Memorial on Friday morning as hundreds of people looked on solemnly.
Surrounded by stones bearing the names of hundreds of Oklahoma law enforcement officers who gave the ultimate sacrifice, the bagpipe droned a somber melody.
For 50 years, friends, family and local dignitaries have gathered each year to honor the lives of the state’s fallen officers.
“It is a sad occasion that
we have to be here, but I am honored to be able to be with the families and the friends,” said master-of-ceremonies Keith Barenberg as he struggled to speak while tears streamed from his eyes.
Barenberg, president of the Oklahoma Troopers Association, described the fallen as “true heroes” and
told the grieving friends and families, “I also believe there’s a special place in heaven for our peacekeepers, they’re with God.”
Law enforcement officers from across the state attended the ceremony at the rededicated memorial at the state Department of Public Safety in northeast Oklahoma City. For years, the memorial had been in disrepair.
Phil Williams, project coordinator for the rededication, lauded the work, saying 90 percent of what could be seen was donated in the form of time, materials and labor.
“They took this job to heart, they treated this like hallowed ground.” Williams said of the volunteers. “I watched them carry the stones with the names of the fallen officers as if they were carrying their own babies.”
On the stones, six additional names were engraved this year, including:
• Tecumseh officer Justin M. Terney, who died March 28, 2017, after he was shot twice during a traffic stop.
• Logan County Deputy Sheriff David J. Wade, who was killed April 18, 2017, while attempting to serve an eviction notice in Mulhall.
• Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. D. Heath Meyer, who died July 24, 2017, from injuries he sustained after being struck by a patrol vehicle while he was placing stop sticks to end a police pursuit in Moore.
• Craig County Deputy Sheriff Sean F. Cookson, who died Feb. 27, 2017, from injuries sustained in a wreck while he was en route for training.
• Oklahoma Department of Corrections Cpl. Stephen R. Jenkins Jr., who died Jan. 7, 2017, from a heart attack he suffered while chasing an inmate with contraband at the Clara Waters Correctional Center in Oklahoma City.
• Perkins officer Henry L. Cotton, who died April 29, 1986, following complications from a surgery for injuries he suffered during a fight while making an arrest.
“This year we add six names to the wall, but we must also pay tribute to the more than 800 who (have) lost their lives in the line of duty,” said Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter.
“No matter what we say or do here today, it will never be truly enough to properly recognize the brave men and women who gave everything,” Hunter said. “But, we must continue to come together, to grieve, to comfort one another.”
During the ceremony, friends and family of 18 fallen officers were escorted to a wreath in the shape of the state, bordered by blue flowers. One by one, the officers’ names were called and a single red rose pinned to the wreath in honor of each.
OKC ceremony
Friday afternoon, another ceremony was held at the Fallen Officers Memorial at Oklahoma City police headquarters to honor the 34 city officers who had died in the line of duty prior to statehood.
“Over that memorial you’ll see a group of words ... like courage, honor, respect, integrity, service and sacrifice,” Police Capt. Bo Mathews told the crowd. “That describes your loved one; that describes our fallen heroes; that describes an Oklahoma City police officer.”
Mayor David Holt said that as he looked at the memorial he was reminded that just as the first officers in the city perished more than a century ago, the career of a law enforcement officer is among a long list of professions where workers wake each morning knowing that they might not come back home.
“A hundred years of effort and higher standards have shortened that list considerably,
and now it is very short — the list of occupations that you might reasonably expect to die from,” Holt said. “That list, though, still includes police officers.
“We know that the police officer will always be on that list and it’s a sobering reminder that there is still room on that wall and we know someday we’ll probably have to add another name, and that makes us all very sad.”
A roll call of fallen officers was read aloud with members of the police honor guard placing a single white rose in honor of each on the memorial.
“It is of little consolation, perhaps, but I’m glad that we gather every year,” Holt told the friends and family of fallen officers, “and we remind you (that) we remember and we’re grateful.”