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Police honor fallen comrades
Once a year, law enforcement officers and their supporters gather around the nation to remember those who have died in the line of duty.
On Tuesday, Prince William's law enforcement community remembered 13 county residents who were killed over the last 40 years.
Two of them -- Officer Paul T. White Jr. and Officer Philip M. Pennington, were members of the Prince William Police Department. A third, Sgt. John D. Conner III, worked for the Manassas Police Department.
The other 10 were county residents working for other law enforcement agencies ranging from the Drug Enforcement Administration to the U.S. Capitol Police.
All were killed in the line of duty and all were remembered Tuesday as “great American heroes who lived and died with the oath that they had taken.”
“We will not forget the example of sacrifice that they have given to us,” said Chaplain J. Douglas Duty Jr.
Two more names were added to the list since last year's vigil. Special Agent Chad L. Michael and Special Agent Forrest N. Leamon, both members of the Drug Enforcement Administration, were killed when their helicopter was shot down by insurgents in Afghanistan.
The Prince William residents were among the 116 officers killed in the line of duty last year across the country, said Prince William Police Chief Charlie T. Deane. Forty-nine of those were shot.
Deane said in the United States, one officer is killed every 53 hours. Police know that well, he said, because they see the news tickers every time an officer is killed anywhere in the country.
“We see them and we suffer each time,” he said. “Each day, on duty and often off duty .. officers face dangers that few people understand or even appreciate.”
The Prince William officers are:
Trooper Jackie M. Bussard
May 5, 1970
Virginia State Police
Officer Paul T. White Jr.
Oct. 27, 1973
Prince William Police
Investigator Claude Everett Seymour
April 25, 1975
Trooper Johnny R. Bowman
Aug. 19, 1984
Virginia State Police
Sgt. John D. Conner III
July 24, 1988
Manassas City Police
Officer Philip M. Pennington
Nov. 22, 1990
Prince William Police
Trooper Jose M. Cavazos
Feb. 24, 1993
Virginia State Police
Special Agent William H. Christian Jr.
May 29, 1995
FBI
Det. John M. Gibson
July 24, 1998
U.S. Capitol Police
Officer Marlon F. Morales
June 13, 2001
Metro Transit Police
2nd Lt. Francis Joseph Stecco
Oct. 25, 2008
Fairfax County Police
Special Agent Chad L. Michael
Oct. 26, 2009
DEA
Special Agent Forrest N. Leamon
Oct. 26, 2009
DEA
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