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| Reflections |
| By Sarah Etter, News Reporter |
| Published: 05/07/2007 |
Lee Teter's painting "Reflections" shows a man standing at Washington DC's Vietnam Memorial. In the black granite, which is etched with the names of those that died in combat, soldiers stare back at the man while he grieves.Memorials like these offer society a chance to remember someone or a group that dies for their cause. Corrections employees who have died in the line of duty are also remembered in memorials. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund oversee one such memorial in Washington, DC. Made of white granite, it is etched with new names every year to symbolize the sacrifices corrections officers and law enforcement officials have made. The fund began the memorial in 1991 and has been adding new names every year since. Keeping current on those who have died across the country is no small undertaking. About 20,000 names are on the memorial and according to Kevin Morison, the fund's communications director, the project is still catching up with the times. “We reach out to the corrections agencies and encourage them to submit the paperwork so the officers can be added to the memorial,” he says. “Over time, as more people have learned about our memorial and more people are interested in researching the history of their departments, we discover hundreds of cases that until now were lost to history and weren't included on the memorial.” This year, during a May 13th dedication ceremony, the names of 15 corrections officers will be added to the memorial. The memorial has proved to be very popular among the families of those who died in the line of duty, so the fund decided to build the National Law Enforcement Museum. “We think it will help tell the stories behind the names of those on our memorial,” Morison says. “There will be special areas [in the museum] related to corrections, as well.” In addition to the DC bricks-and-mortar memorial some online ones exists as well. The Correction Officers Memorial Wall was created by New York State Department Of Corrections officer Jim Holtz in 1996. He works at Attica Correctional Facility full-time and maintains the site on his own time. The site began as a section of Holtz's personal website, Behind The Wall, which details what is like to work in a correctional facility. According to the Memorial Wall site “the Memorial has since expanded into one of the largest web sites solely dedicated to Correctional Officers, Employees, Deputies & jailers that have died in the line of duty.” All costs associated with running the site are privately funded. The Officer Down Memorial Page offers family the chance to leave memories and reflections of their loved ones. “I whipped up a website to commemorate these officers in 1996,” explains site creator Chris Cosgriff. “There was an article in the Washington Post that was basically glorifying a man who had shot and killed two police officers. It made me sick. I realized we needed to commemorate those who die in law enforcement and public safety.” Cosgriff adds that it is overwhelming to keep up with the memorial, but that having a dedicated staff helps. Typically, he says site traffic comes from all types of law enforcement officers, family members and the general public. “From the day we started this, we have never distinguished between different types of law enforcement. We treat them all the same police officers, corrections officers, even park rangers. Every one of these jobs roles plays an important part of keeping our public safe,” Cosgriff says. “And they deserve to be remembered.” Related resources: Correction Officer's Memorial Wall |
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