Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson announced on Thursday that two former Walker County deputies who died in the line of duty will have their names added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington D.C.
A total of 273 law enforcement officers’ names will be added to the Memorial Wall in 2015.
The names of the fallen Walker County deputies, Toliver Clayton Hearn and George E.
Kemp, will be read at the 27th annual candlelight service on May 13, at 8 p.m. The vigil will be webcast free at nleomf.org.
Deputy Sheriff Toliver Clayton Hearn was shot and killed on Aug. 29, 1925 in Rossville, by Marshall Reed.
Chief Deputy George E. Kemp died on Aug. 8, 1955 from a heart attack while struggling with prisoner Austin Holder at the County Jail.
On average, one law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty somewhere in the United States every 58 hours. Since the first known line of duty death in 1791, more than 20,000 U.S. law enforcement officers have made the ultimate sacrifice.
Each year there are about 60,000 assaults on law enforcement officers, resulting in about 16,000 injuries. Over the last 10 years, an average of 150 officers each year have been killed in the line of duty.
Deputy Hearn and Chief Deputy Kemp join previously engraved names on the Memorial Wall from Walker County Sheriff’s Office to include:
Sheriff Harvey A. Mize DOD Feb. 14, 1879
Sheriff Albert G. Catron DOD May 28, 1921
Deputy Joseph Morton DOD March 18, 1922
Deputy D. C. “Doss Alexander DOD Aug. 11, 1934