Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

You will always be remembered

Office
Metropolitan police department

July 6, 2021

No passage of time can ever erase your service and sacrifice. Rest in peace always.

Detective Cpl/3 Steven Rizzo
Delaware State Police (Retired)

October 30, 2020

Marshal Whte,
On today, the 140th anniversary of your death I would just like to say thank you for your service and sacrifice for the citizens of Tombstone.

R.I.P.
USBP

Anonymous
United States Border Patrol

October 30, 2020

RIP sir, you will never ever be forgotten.

First Sergeant Thomas Webb, Retired.
New York State Police - Troop D

August 4, 2020

Rest In Peace Brother LEO.

Officer Mike Robinson (Ret.)
Upland Police Dept. CA

October 30, 2019

I paid a visit to you today at Boothill in my home state of Arizona. I had never been to Tombstone before and I was so excited! As I looked at your headstone I could help but think about the sacrifice you made so many years ago. It hits so close to home given the events that struck my own agency just last month. I'm proud of my police family and the many men and women who have gone before me. Thank you Marshal White, for your service and dedication. May you rest in peace. When I get to the pearly gates, I'll be looking for you and hope to share a drink and stories with you.

Senior Corporal J. D. Smith #9219
Dallas Police Department

August 5, 2016

By recognizing the heroes of our past, we honor and appreciate the warriors of our present. Your heroism and service is remembered with gratitude today. We thank you for your courage and sacrifice. You gave your all to keep order. You put yourself in harm's way, standing between the citizens you swore to protect, and the evil that exists. Thank you for helping to make America a safer place. You live on in our memories as you continue to inspire. Time will never diminish our respect. You have not been forgotten, my brother. You will always be remembered. God bless you Marshal White, and rest in peace.

David Hoechstetter
ex-Patrolman (Disabled)
Conway Police Department
Pennsylvania

October 30, 2015

I think the true picture of Marshal White's dedication to justice is the fact that, on his deathbed, he indicated that the shooting was an accident, thereby preserving the quest for truthfulness that all law officers should strive for. We need more people as dedicated to law and order as he was.

David Weldon

August 21, 2015

I feel only deep emotion and great respect for a fallen brother, Fred White. The true value of his life is reflected in the fact that the memory of Marshal White continues to today. Thanks for the example you set for the rest of us who follow.

Lt. Mike Jones
Searcy, AR Police Department

March 24, 2015

While it's the more popular of all of the famous films on Tombstone, the Kurt Russel hit "Tombstone" does enormous injustice to the true history and timeline of events in Tombstone. One of it's most glaring examples is the casting of famous Western and war film star Harry Carey Junior as Fred White. Though White was 31 at the time of his death, "Tombstone" depicts him as a white haired and bearded old man, as Carey was 73 at the time.

Such gross misrepresentations of simple historical facts in a movie during the filming of which the stars and producers claimed it was the "most accurate" film ever produced on the life of Wyatt Earp and Tombstone are partly travesty, tragedy and a reminder to never forget (to paraphrase Mark Twain*) "it's not what we know for sure that gets us into trouble, but what we know for sure that just ain't so"!


FROM WIKIPEDIA:

Frederick G. "Fred" White (c. 1849 – October 30, 1880) was a young lawman, the first "town marshal" (equivalent to chief of police) of the new mining boomtown of Tombstone, Arizona Territory. White was elected to the town police position on January 6, 1880. At the time, Tombstone was officially still a town, defined as having fewer than 1,000 residents, and did not become an official city, with over 1,000 residents, until a year later. Before that time, White died in office in a notorious accidental shooting, and was succeeded in office by Virgil Earp.

Although White is usually portrayed, as in the film Tombstone, as an elderly or older man, he was actually only 31 or 32 years of age at the time of his death. He was born in New York according to the 1880 Census. Some claim that the Ghost of Fred White still haunts the street where he was shot.[1]

* Twain is also the one who said "The truth is a stranger to fiction!"

Marshal KAP

June 4, 2014

Wyatt Earp did not "avenge" the death of Fred White at the hands of Curly Bill Brocious!

In fact, Wyatt, who witnessed the killing, testified on behalf of Brocious, noting that the shoot, though the result of a drunken rant, was, in and of itself, seemingly accidental!

So, getting the facts right is one of the key ways for a law enforcement officer -- who should be a truth seeker and peace keeper -- to honor the memory of all living and dead!

Marshal KAP

June 3, 2014

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."
Matthew 5:9

Marshal Chris Di Gerolamo
Federal Air Marshal Service

October 30, 2012

Why not name the killer? Fred White was killed by the notorious Old West outlaw William "Curly Bill" Brocius.

Michael A. Rhodes
Civilian

June 21, 2012

I have visited Tombstone numerous times, and Fred White is so important to the History of the Wild West. It is unfortunate that some people can only gain fame with their death, and not through the every day hard work that a law enforcement officer has to do. Rest in Peace.

Officer Velez-Ortega
Pembroke Pines Police Department

June 8, 2012

I never knew you Fred White marshal of tombstone Az but you are my hero, R I P C WHITE

SGT C. WHITE
US ARMY RETIRED

January 25, 2012

Rest in peace my Brother.

Deputy S. Yates
Covinton County Sheriff's Dept. (Mississippi)

August 27, 2010

Marshal White, you will not be forgotten! R.I.P.

Deputy Sheriff
Livingston County (Il) Sheriff's Ofc.

January 16, 2010

Your heroism and service is honored today, the 129th anniversary of your death. Your memory lives and you continue to inspire. Thank you for your service. My cherished son Larry Lasater was a fellow police officer murdered in the line of duty on April 24, 2005 while serving as a Pittsburg, CA police officer.

Your death has even been covered in the cinema. You must have been an extremely fair man to say on your deathbed that it was an accidental shooting. Unfortunately, violence is as prevalent as in the Wild West Days, but now there are assault weapons, decades of delays in rendering justice. Respect never dies and you are honored and revered.

Rest In Peace

Phyllis Loya

Anonymous

October 30, 2009

Tombstone Epitaph, November 8th, 1880

Marshal White's Funeral.

The circumstances attending the death of Fred White, Marshal of Tombstone, called out the largest assemblage which has ever followed to the tomb any deceased person in Tombstone. The funeral services were held in Gird's Hall and long ere the hour for the funeral services the spacious building was crowded to capacity...

The cortege following the Marshal to the grave was the largest ever seen in this city. It embraced all classes and conditions of society, from the millionaires to the mudsill, and numbered fully 1,000 persons...

(Marshal White rests remembered in Tombstone's old Boot Hill Cemetery)

Anonymous

September 2, 2009

Marshal White, you were a brave man, in a dangerous and corrupt town. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten. Rest in peace brother.

Capt. Peter J.Mastrogiacomo ( Ret.)
Union County Dept. of Corrections

April 22, 2009

Rest in Peace, Marshal White. Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

Officer 11169

May 19, 2008

I had the great honor of walking the streets of Tombstone where you enforced the laws so long ago. I paused at the spot where you fell and had a moment of silence for you. Thank you for your courage and your sacrifice. Your insistence on your deathbed that your shooting was an accident speaks volumes to your character: seeking justice to the very end. Rest in peace Marshal White.

Jeff

March 1, 2008

I've spent my entire career in law enforcment. I visit Tombstone once a year in order to reflect on what happened there and to appreciate the great police character of the
Earp brothers. As an officer who has been shot, shot at, and
watched my partner shot, I can emphasis with the ordeal the
Earp Brothers and Holliday faced. Bravo to the Earps, Marshal Fred White and 'Doc" Holliday.

Detective-Peter M. Wright, retired
Redlands Police Department

February 21, 2008

Rest in Peace Marshal!

Police Corporal Matt Lyons (Historian)
Oceanside Police Department, Cal

January 21, 2008

Being a Cowboy, how can I forget the memory of Marshal White?

May You Rest-In-Peace.

Maj M. B. Parlor
USMC/LAPD

October 30, 2007