Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

In Honor of your Sacrifice and for your family and friends, I salute you as a HERO!

"The Badge"

He starts his shift each day
To respond to calls unknown.
He drives a marked patrol car.
A police officer he is known.

He's paid by the citizens' taxes
To make it safe on the streets.
But he usually has a second job
'Cause a waitress has his salary beat.

Now he doesn't know a holiday
'Cause he works all year round.
And when Thanksgiving and Christmas finally arrive
At his home he cannot be found.

He's cursed and assaulted often,
The one whose blood runs blue.
He seldom ever gets a thanks,
To some he's just a fool.

His friends are always other cops
'Cause people just don't understand
That underneath his badge and gun,
He's just another man.

He knows there might not be a tomorrow
In this world of drugs and crime.
And he gets so mad at the court system
'Cause the crooks don't get any time.

And each day when he leaves for work,
He prays to God above.
Please bring me home after my shift
So I can see the ones I love.

But tonight he stops a speeding car,
He's alone down this ole' highway.
It's just a little traffic infraction.
He does it everyday.

Well, he walks up to the driver's window,
And his badge is shining bright.
He asked the guy for a driver's license,
When a shot rang through the night.

Yes, the bullet hit its mark,
Striking the officer in the chest.
But the Department's budget didn't buy
Each officer a bullet-proof vest.

So he lay on the ground bleeding.
His blood wasn't blue - His blood was red.
And briefly he thought of his loved ones
'Cause in a moment the officer was dead.

In the news they told the story
Of how this officer had died.
And some who listened cared less,
But those who loved him cried.

Well, they buried him in uniform
With his badge pinned on his chest.
He even had his revolver,
He died doing his best.

Written By:
David L. Bell

Used with Special Permission of the Author
Copyright © 1993 - All Rights Reserved
and may not be duplicated without permission

Investigator David L Bell (Retired)
Richland County Sheriff's Dept.
Columbia, SC

September 28, 2021

Rest in Peace Deputy Sheriff Matthew Locke! Thank you for your 7 years of service with Hardin County Sheriff's
Department in Tennessee and for your service with the Tennessee Army National Guard. We are all thankful to you for your service, your devotion and your sacrifices, and also to you family and friends for their sacrifices. Our hearts break for your wife, your
child during this tragedy, and we want them to know that you will never be forgotten! Our thoughts and Prayers go out to the rest of your family and to all of your sisters and brothers in Blue that protect us. God bless you all!! (Matthew5:9)

Kelly & Eddie King

September 28, 2021

Thank you for your willingness to go, headfirst, into situations that others fear. Your courage, bravery, and strength along with your family's sacrifice will not be forgotten.

Amanda Winter Moore
Mother of a Deputy

September 28, 2021

Rest In Peace, Deputy Locke. Praying for your loved ones.

Officer C Curione (Retired)
Rochester Police Department, NY

September 28, 2021

God rest his soul.

Sgt. Robert A. Henne
Jersey City PD/Retired

September 28, 2021

Rest in Peace my brother.

Captain Bernard Flint
Department of Defense Police Division

September 28, 2021

Rest In Peace…

Retired Detective
Syracuse Police Dept, NY

September 28, 2021

Heavenly Father, I pray for the families, friends, and colleagues of all Law Enforcement Officers and their K-9 Partners who have been killed in the Line-of-Duty and I thank You for their sacrifices. If You are willing, please bless the lives of their families, friends, and colleagues so they might find emotional and spiritual healing. Please, O Lord, help their law enforcement departments and agencies support the families, friends, and colleagues of those who have fallen in the Line-of-Duty. Even though their deaths might have been senseless, make something good come out of these situations so that the law enforcement departments and agencies and the communities that they worked and lived might be stronger because of their lives and their deaths. In the mighty and holy Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

“The peacemakers are blessed, for they will be called sons [children] of God” [Matthew 5:9 HCSB]

“Those who mourn are blessed, for they will be comforted.” [Matthew 5:4 HCSB]

Chaplain Steven R. Closs, D.Div, MSBS, CCC, NCCA
Ordained / Licensed Independent Christian Clergy
Law Enforcement Chaplaincy Services
Merrimack, NH 03054

Captain Steven R. Closs (Ret.)
Nashua NH Police Department

September 28, 2021

GOD BLESS AND REST EASY

Officer Ian Lemaster
FWC

September 27, 2021

May God comfort your family, friends, and fellow officers at this difficult time. May God stand in the gap of your absence and provide an extra measure of love and protection for your beloved child.

God bless and protect the Thin Blue Line that protects us all.

Private Citizen Kathryn Felts
Mother of & Family Member of Law Enforcement

September 27, 2021

We will remember.

Miss Eleanore Trupkiewicz
Civilian Supporter of Law Enforcement

September 27, 2021

Psalm 15
God bless.
Rest in peace brother.

Correctional Officer Paul Schanno
Hennepin County(Minneapolis)- Adult Corrections Facility

September 27, 2021

Rest in Peace Deputy Locke. Thank you for your service. My thoughts and prayers are with the Locke Family and the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office.

Cpl. Gary Hughes (Retired)
Passaic County Sheriff's Office New Jersey

September 27, 2021

Rest in peace Deputy Sheriff Locke.

Rabbi Lewis S. Davis

September 27, 2021

My family and I would like to extend our sincere condolences to the family, friends, and fellow coworkers of Deputy Sheriff Matthew Locke during this difficult time. May they find comfort and support from those around them. May happy moments from the past bring forth precious memories to cherish for a lifetime. May God help heal their aching hearts. Thank you for your service and may you rest in peace Deputy Sheriff Matthew Locke.

Gail. M. Pabst
Aunt of fallen Detroit P.O. Jennifer Fettig eow 2/16/04

September 27, 2021

Rest easy brother thank you for your service. May your sacrifice or memory never fade.

Jerry Matalone #8046 (Retired)
Des Moines Iowa Police Department

September 27, 2021

Thank you for your service.

Dmytro Goloborodko

September 27, 2021

A police officer should be remembered not by how he died but how he lived! A great man has gone to secure a safe path for the rest of us to follow. Thank you to you, your family and the Hardin County Sheriff's Department. Our country is a little less safe without you. Rest in Peace Brother!

Chief (Ret) Steven Marshall
Georges Mills, NH

September 27, 2021

Faithful Unto Death | Eternal Rest | Salute

S. I. Drake - Lt/IPD | IMPD (Ret)

September 27, 2021

Deepest sympathy to the family of Deputy Sheriff Luke and to his Brothers and Sisters of the Hadin County Sheriff’s Office. Tennessee. May GOD give peace, comfort, and understanding to his family, friends, and associates. RIP Brother.p

Chaplain Terry L. Longacre. MTPD (Retire
Red Rose Lodge FOP# 16 Lancaster, County, Pennsylvania

September 27, 2021

God bless you Deputy Matthew Locke, for your service and sacrifice. Thoughts and prayers go out to your family and friends, and to your brothers and sisters from the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office. Rest in Peace Brother.

Officer Jim Drabos (Retired)
San Gabriel (CA) Police Department

September 27, 2021

D/S Matthew Locke, thank you for serving your country and your community. Rest in peace.
#NEVERFORGET

(Ret) Sgt Thomas McCarthy
NYPD

September 27, 2021

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

Chris Di Gerolamo
Federal Air Marshal Service

September 27, 2021

On behalf of POINT 27, we would like to offer condolences for Deputy Sheriff Matthew Locke. Please know we are eternally grateful for Matthew’s service and his ultimate sacrifice.

To honor Deputy Sheriff Locke, POINT 27 sent 27 Thin Blue Line Dog Tag Necklaces, engraved with “Blessed are the Peacemakers for they will be called children of God” Matthew 5:9, to the Hardin County Sheriff's Department in Savannah, Tennessee for Matthew’s partner and fellow deputies POINT 27 sent a Folded Flag Necklace engraved with “Greater Love has no one than this; than to lay down one’s life for one’s friend” John 15:13 for Deputy Sheriff Matthew Locke’s wife.

POINT 27 is a Non-Profit organization with a mission to strengthen and encourage members of the Armed Forces, First Responders, and their families, by sharing scripture on Dog Tags and Jewelry called Shields of Strength.

We will never forget and we are forever grateful.

Respectfully,

Colonel David Dodd,
United States Army Retired
Executive Director-POINT 27

Detective Jerry M. Rhodes (Retired)
Dallas Police Department-Reserve Division
POINT 27 National Outreach Coordinator
Law Enforcement Liaison
[email protected]
214-908-2617

Detective Jerry M. Rhodes (Retired)
Dallas Police Department Reserve Division
POINT 27- National Out Reach Coordinator
Law Enforcement Liaison

September 27, 2021

My deepest sympathy to Deputy Locke’s family. May you find comfort knowing he will never be forgotten.

Jill Bernasek

September 27, 2021