Fallen Heroes tribute set for May 2

Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol Capt. Thomas Tuggle, assistant director of the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers Training Academy, will be the keynote speaker at the annual Fallen Heroes observance honoring police and first responders at 10 a.m. Friday in Hernando.

The annual observance is on the grounds of the DeSoto County Courthouse but will take place inside the courthouse if it rains.

The event, organized by Hugh Basinger and Southaven police Lt. Jerald Wheeler, each year honors public servants who lost their lives while on duty in DeSoto County.

A granite Fallen Heroes memorial that sits on the courthouse grounds is engraved with the names of eight public servants who gave their lives while on duty in DeSoto County, from Sheriff William P. Harris in 1912 to sheriff’s department Lt. Gregory Floyd Medlin, who died in 2003.

Also during the event, Northwest Mississippi Community College in Senatobia will announce scholarships in the name of each of the eight officers on the memorial to students planning public safety careers, such as police and firefighters.

The Peacemakers from the Memphis Police Department will perform. A police officer will lead a riderless horse behind a caisson to honor the fallen officers.

Yolanda Jones