Naval Commander At Scene Of July 16 Attack Praises Police At Annual Memorial Rites For Slain Officers

Lt. Commander Tim White, the Naval officer who fired a shot at a gunman during a tragic attack on a military center on Amnicola Highway, on Tuesday helped local law enforcement officers honor their slain comrades.

Lt. Commander White was the featured speaker at the annual rites at the Law Enforcement Memorial outside the Courts Building on Market Street.

With his wife and seven children in the audience, he spoke about the fact that each day when officers strap on their uniforms "they know that might be the day" they never return home.

He said, "They know there is a real possibility that they could wind up in the sights of evil."

The speaker said fewer than one percent of the population are in law enforcement and have to "face the fact that it might be the last goodby."

He called those officers "everyday heroes" who are "never off duty even on their off days."

Lt. Commander White said his own sons like to emulate officers. "I hear their little sirens going up and down the street."

Every night, he said, he and his wife pray for local law enforcement leaders.

He made scant mention of last July 16 except to say that he thinks about it every day.

He said he was thankful that so many police officers "ran into danger rather than running away from it."

The Naval officer said, "We should always be grateful for our police officers, not antagonistic toward them."

A new name added to the list was that of Park Ranger James Wallen who was in a vehicle that was hit by a tractor-trailer on June 30, 1989. He suffered a traumatic brain injury and lived until last Oct. 25.