Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

You have a very nice bridge sir. I drive over it many times a month and I like how peaceful it is.

George Parnell
Blue Lives Matter

June 17, 2021

Rest in peace always and know that your service and sacrifice will never, ever be forgotten by your law enforcement brethren.

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

September 23, 2020

Roy - Find myself thinking of you today. Impossible to believe it has been 23 years this past Saturday since we lost you so senselessly. Still very raw, even after all these years. You are gone, but never forgotten.

BD
Family Friend

September 25, 2017

RIP Sheriff Bassett, you will never be forgotten.

Officer J. Honeycutt
Utah Valley University Police Dept.

March 24, 2017

The Shield
Musings from your Shieldmaker...

A former co-worker sent me this. It is unattributed but is too excellent not to share.

Just remember me. I may not have my name engraved on a memorial wall or be saluted once a year with misty eyes and trumpets played. I don't want to compete for glory or take away anything from those whose last heart beat was beneath a badge stilled at their last breath or lovingly adorned before they are laid to rest. Remember me in the glow of the patrol car's console as I bumped through the alleys on a quiet midnight shift, balancing a cup of coffee.

Part of me is glad for the quiet respite from the back-to-back demads of dispatch. Part of me wishes something would happen because I'm wired for those adrenaline infusions that keep my soul alive. From some subliminal habit my mind balances a practiced calm against the constant scanning of my senses. A thousand cues are processed as sounds or silence, shades of shadow, and relections of light keep every atom at attention. I am ready to chase, ready to retreat, ready to rescue. To the happily ignorant observer I'm a dulled door shaker just waiting for the donut shop to open. But remember me as the warrior who, while my family and yours slept warmly, shared the darkenss with the evil I was quietly hunting.

Just remember me. I may not have a war story of dodging a hail of bulets. Not many of us do. Remember that I was willing--why else would I wrap my torso in Kevlar everyday? My life is a walk among weapons. Guns and knives are a-plenty, but I see the ball point pen, the cell phone, the ashtray, the boot, the mini-van all poised for a kill. Just to go to work requires attaching tools of destruction to my body, itself a weapon and shield. An officer of peace adorned with a half dozen ways to kill, inflict pain, and subdue. This same one who proudly assured those who hired him that he wanted to be a police officer to help people now heavy hearted that victory often means another man in chains. Remember me, as a tormented crusader for all that is good, tainted by all this it not.

Just remember me. I may not show you my scars. I may not be among the many of my fellow warriors disabled by distress, but I am touched by their early deaths, their PTSD, their failed families, their addictions, and their bitterness. Remember that I could still smile and be quick with a joke and enjoy a good conversation. But know that I was always fighting pain. I cannot have pure grief for a fallen comrade at a police officer's funeral without weeping for my own mortality. I cannot shake the reality that death is my constant companion. I cannot enjoy the luxury of looking at my own delightful children without thinking of the dead and broken ones. It is a discipline to sit down and eat a meal soon after binding up the wounds that left skin and blook on the asphalt, to touch a loved one in a loving way after you've touched the dead. Remember me as one who carried on with life surrounded by reminders of its brevity.

Just remember me. I may not have as many enemies as I imagined, but it was not because I watched too many cop shows that I always had my eye on the door in the restaurant and I never carried anything in my gun hand. Nobody knew that I was calculating my odds on being able to take on anybody in the room, that I was looking snipers and pickpockets at the ball game, that I was always a little disappointed that there was not a robbery in progress when I went to the bank to cash a check, and that while I was singing hymns in church I was scouting trajectories to minimize crossfire, just in case. Remember that I was 24/7 even when I didn't want to be.

Just remember. It is what I tell myself. If I don't celebrate my walk in this life I may, in my current comfort, forget the others still on the front lines of the ongoing battle. I mostly sit at a desk now. I have finally aged into premature gray hair. My fingers are on business cards and laptop keyboards much more often than on Miranda cards and hand cuffs these days. But I must remember the midnights. God forbid that I lay my head on my pillow and forget the men and women watching over the night to own it for me. Shame on me if I drive the highways and fail to remember why they are smooth and safe, or go to the voting booth and fail to appreciate why it is such an easy exercise in this nation. May I never leave a prayer unsaid for a siren sounding in the distance. I must not forget that nearly every block and section of the land tells a story of when a hero was there. They are my brothers and sisters whose hearts have beat beneath a badge. I am proud of them.

I remember.

Deputy Aaron Baker
Maries County Sheriffs Dept

August 19, 2010

On todays date, the First Responder Unit of the U.S. Capitol Police honored Officer Bassett's service during roll call by reading his entry from ODMP. Each day, we honor one fallen officer on the anniversary of their death so as to keep them in our thoughts, and also to remind us of the dangers inherent in our job.

Lieutenant Ted O'Donnell
U.S. Capitol Police

September 23, 2008

Marilyn, Paul, your daughter & John miss you daily. I think of you everyday. Gene Helms blamed himself but we know you, Roger B. & Gene are hunting together & Dad is watching over you all. I alway place flowers at your gravesite when I place Gene's, Dad & Mom's.

There is no great gift to give one's life in the line of duty & you served the community of Maries County & Vienna with your whole heart & you made the community & your hometown a better place to live.

Thelma Helms Conner
Your Friend & Sister of James "Gene" Helms

June 18, 2008

"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 whos 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
Sergeant
Richland County Sheriff's Department
Columbia, South Carolina
Used with Special Permission of the Author
Copyright © 1999 - All Rights Reserved
and may not be duplicated without permission

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

December 6, 2007

Twelve years have passed since your tour of duty ended and you have not been forgotten nor will that ever be the case. Your loved ones will keep your memory alive as will the Blue Family. You are a true hero and heroes never die. Continue to keep watch over your loved ones and those still out on patrol protecting the Thin Blue Line.

Bob Gordon, father of fallen officer
Michael P. Gordon, EOW: 8/8/04

Bob Gordon, Gold Star Father

September 22, 2006

I am Sheriff Bassett's youngest son. What he did that day I will never forget. I lost a father, but gained a hero. I too want to be in law enforcement.

John Bassett

February 1, 2006

To the family and friends of Sheriff Roy Luke Bassett and his fellow deputies in the Maries County Sheriff's Dept. and most especially to Sheriff Bassett:

Although it has been 11 years since Roy's brutal murder, I wanted to extend sincerest condolences on behalf of our entire family for the grievous loss they suffered when Sheriff Bassett was killed.

Sheriff Bassett, your valor and dedication will never be forgotten.


May his family continue to be comforted by the support and caring of your law enforcement community, and other police survivors.

This reflection is sent with the utmost respect for the service Roy gave to his community and the citizens of Missouri, and for the supreme sacrifice he and his family made on September 23, 1994.

Phyllis Loya, mother of fallen officer
Larry Lasater, Pittsburg PD eow 4/24/05

September 23, 2005

It seems like only yesterday, and yet, over ten years now, since that horrific day. Everyone who lived in or near Vienna changed that day. The purity of life was gone, knowing that we were as vulnerable to violence as any community. As Mom's boss, you were always good and kind and fair with her. As dad's co-worker, you were always respected and admired by him. As a friend to our family, you were deeply loved by us all. We miss your presence in our life and our community. When people ask me what I remember about you, I tell them, "He was a good man who died trying to make this world a better place". What more can we ask than people remember us that way. May God's Love and Comfort forever be on your family, and may your sacrifice for our safety never be forgotten!

Brenda (Thompson) Davis

January 21, 2005

Since I married Paul after your death I didn't get to know you as well as I wish I could have. From stories that Paul, Marilyn and your brothers tell me you loved life and you loved your family. And I love that about you. You raised a wonderful child.... he's now and wonderful husband and father. I know you son, Paul, misses you every day of his life. I know you were a good man and I can only hope that you are watching over us and our daughter Laney.

Forever in my thoughts, Nyla

Nyla (Haller) Bassett

January 18, 2005

You are missed. To bad we don't have more officers like you. You were good with our kids in the community and good to the citizens of Maries County. Wish we had more like you my friend.

A friend Debbie Davis
None

November 1, 2003