Department Honor Guard Participates
As State Honors Six Fallen Officers
Friday morning, May 9, members of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Honor Guard participated in the Fortieth Annual Oklahoma Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial Service. Along with honor guards from across the state, they were there as Oklahoma took time to honor the service and sacrifices of its law enforcement officers. The service was conducted at the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Memorial located on the west grounds of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, 3600 North M.L. King Avenue in Oklahoma City.
Participating Game Warden Honor Guards From ODWC stand with numerous other agencies' honor guard officers. This elite group stands in honor of Oklahoma's fallen officers at this year's Law Enforcement Memorial Service held in OKC. The solemn occasion is held annually commemorating the service and sacrifice of both current and past fallen law enforcement officers lost while serving the people of our state.
Oklahoma County Deputy Sheriff Levi A. Ezzell died August 24, 1914, after he was shot in the abdomen by his own .45 caliber pistol. Deputy Ezzell was taking 17 year old Warren Mankin to jail for stealing bicycles when Mankin broke loose and started running east down an alley south of Main Street west of Hudson.
Honor guard members participating in the ceremony were game wardens Gary Roller, Robin Pugh, Nathan Erdman, and Ben Bickerstaff. Oklahoma State Game Warden Association president Anthony Clark attended as the association representative at the event. Key note speaker for the service was Sheldon J. Sperling, U.s. Attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Six officers' names were dedicated on the states memorial during the service. They were:
Braggs Deputy Constable George Johnson Kirk along with Constable Wicks trailed three train robbers and caught up to them on June 18,1909. When the Constables attempted to arrest the men, a fight ensued and Deputy Constable Kirk was shot in the head and killed.
Deputy Ezzell drew his gun and SGW Gary Roller
threw it at the escaping youth.
When the gun struck the pavement, it discharged striking Ezzell. Deputy Ezzell made a statement before he died of how he was shot, clearing Mankin.
Grayson Township Constable William A. Hood and Jefferson County Deputy Sheriff Louis M. Harvill were both shot about 10 PM., January 28,1928, as they walked between two parked cars. Deputy Harvill died within the hour. Constable Hood died five days later, on February 2, 1928.
Latimer County Deputy Sheriff Dustin S. Duncan was driving home in Wister having just completed a twelvehour shift and was killed when his patrol car went left of center and struck a pick up just before 6 a.m. on Monday, February 4, 2008. Deputy Duncan had only been with the Latimer County Sheriff's Office three months having joined the previous October but had been a law enforcement officer for seven years prior serving with the Wister Police Department and the Le Flore County Sheriff's Office.
Chickasaw Lighthorse Police Department Special Agent Robert P. Flickinger was killed about 7:55 PM. on Friday, March 7, 2008, when he attempted to pass another vehicle and collided with a pickup on State Highway 199 just east of Madill in Marshall County. Robert Flickinger had been in law enforcement for sixteen years. He joined the Chickasaw Lighthorse Police Department on September 27, 2004, as a uniformed officer and was promoted to Special Agent on October IS, 2007.
Honor Guard officers of the Oklahoma City Police Department and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol stands reverently during the Memorial Service. Flags are "own at ha/'-staH while a state map constructed of flowers stands in display. One unique flower representing each officer lost during the past year (or was discovered to have been lost in our state's history) has been especially placed in the area where each man gave his life.
For more information on these or any of the other almost 700 law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty in Oklahoma go to the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Memorial web site at www.oklemem.com.
The Oklahoma Law Enforcement Memorial was the first permanent memorial built in the United States to honor all of the fallen officers of a state. The Memorial was four years in the planning and construction. It was dedicated on May 15, 1969, during the first Annual Oklahoma Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial Service.
The Memorial is maintained and the Annual Memorial Service is hosted by Oklahoma Law Enforcement Memorial, Ine. Member organizations are the Oklahoma Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, Oklahoma State Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, Association of Oklahoma Narcotic Enforcers, Oklahoma Association of Chiefs of Police, Oklahoma Sheriffs' Association, Oklahoma State Troopers Association, Oklahoma Gang Investigators Association and the Oklahoma State Game Wardens Association.
Standing left to right, are ODWC participating Honor Guard oHicers Robin Pugh (Tillman), Nathan Erdman (Beaver), Ben Bickerstaff (Alfalfa), OSGWA President Tony Clark (Cherokee), and Gary Roller (Caddo). These officers are only a portion of the agency's Game Warden Honor Guard organized and funded iointly by our agency and the OSGWA.