57th Law Enforcement Memorial Service honors fallen officers, deputies across Oklahoma
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - “Not heroes because they died, but because the lives they lived.” That’s the sentiment used to honor fallen officers and deputies all across Oklahoma Friday morning at the 57th Law Enforcement Memorial Service at the Department of Public Safety.
"There is a sacrifice that's made for what we do here, for the badges that we wear, for the uniforms that we wear and for the flag and the constitutions that we defend,” The Oklahoma Law Enforcement Memorial Chairman Bill Williams said.
It’s something the men and women in uniform never take lightly. The service continues a tradition of honoring those before them that gave everything. People in a line held one rose, accompanied by representatives from agencies across the state, while waiting for a fallen officer or deputies name to be called. They would then walk up and place that rose on an Oklahoma cut out.
"We got to remember these these men and women that give the time in their lives to serve," retired Deputy Sheriff Van Maples said.
Maples was a deputy sheriff out of Denton County Texas for almost a decade. He's originally from Del City, Oklahoma. He drove up to place a rose for the man's black and white picture you see below.
"Dan Maples was my fifth cousin," Maples said.
Dan Maples was a Deputy U.S. Marshal in 1887. He was shot and killed in Tahlequah, Oklahoma while investigating illegal whiskey operations. The Maple family lineage including a heart for serving and blue in their bloodline.
"It's in the heart," Maples said. "It's not just a job. It's a it's a calling for most of us and we work hard at it."
The memorial holds the names of fallen officers and deputies from all across the state, dating back years and years. All of them paid the ultimate sacrifice as Dan Maples did over 130 years ago. All of them gone, but never forgotten.
You can visit the memorials website by clicking here.