A memorial hosted by the Fraternal Order of Police honored fallen officers Tuesday night at the Statehouse, marking the 10th anniversary of the fallen officer memorial.
The memorial comes a little more than a month after Forest Acres Police Officer Greg Alia was killed while on duty in a Columbia-area mall. Alia was a USC alumni and a founding member of the university's Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity chapter. His wife, Kassy Alia, was present.
Officer Alia's name joined the names of fallen officers covering the walls that surround a statue reading, “Lest we forget; Dedicated to the men and women of South Carolina who helped preserve law and order.” The names of 25 other officers were also added to the memorial walls at the event and Rick Hubbard, South Carolina's deputy attorney general, was the keynote speaker.
“I want to start with some words that you all know are true. And that’s this: ‘There’s no greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for another,’” Hubbard said. “It’s fitting that we look and ponder their names and realize these are real people. These aren’t just names etched in a wall. These were people who had choices like you and me, but they choose to serve; to wear a uniform, to wear a badge on their heart, to serve. To serve and to protect.”
Several people spoke at the memorial, including a member of Project Blue Light (an organization that began in 1988 to honor fallen officers.) Each year during the holiday season, families and friends of fallen officers place blue lights in their windows as a symbol of peace. This year the organization is encouraging everyone across the country join them.
“My husband, he was an officer that was killed 10 years ago. I come out here to try to keep the memory alive for [our children],” said Nicole Burdette, wife of fallen officer Major Deputy James Alexander Burdette. “When my husband was killed, I’ll be honest, I never thought it could happen. Unfortunately I believe the wives now know that when their husbands leave that might be the last time they go out the door.”
At the memorial, each fallen officer’s name was read off. As each name was read, their family members walked up and received a rose in their honor. Families and friends of the fallen officers, as well as those who currently serve, stood in a circle around the memorial, each holding a lit candle in their honor. Many of the families there included spouses, parents and children of the officers.
“[Police officers] keep us safe; lots of times I [slept] alone at night so that you [could] sleep safely,” Tonia Mallett Smith said. Smith is the wife of fallen officer Investigator Holmes N. Smith Jr. and mother to their three children. “When someone breaks into your house at night and holds hostage everything you hold dear, you’re going to call them, and they’re going to come.”
Leading up to and away from the memorial runs a thin blue line, representing police officers both past and current.
“Are there heroes among us? Well my answer is come here. Come to this place,” Hubbard said. “Walk down that thin blue line, and go ponder the names of those who know what sacrifice was. They exemplified courage, and they lived and died with honor. God bless you. God bless us all.”