Corrections_Today_Fall_2024_Vol.86_No.3

We pay tribute to those that made the ultimate sacrifice in service to justice and public safety Executive Director Rob Green gives keynote address at 2024 Correctional Officers Memorial

U nder a grey May sky in the Nation’s Capital, the corrections community gathered at the National Law Enforcement Memorial on Saturday May 4 th , 2024 to remember and honor the ultimate sacrifice made by nearly 1,000 correctional officers whose names are etched in stone at the memorial. Organized by the Metropolitan Council of Govern ments Corrections Chiefs Committee, the 32 nd annual Wreath Laying Ceremony began with a beautiful ren dition of the National Anthem by Deputy First Class Shekora Vaughn of the Loudoun County (VA) Sheriff’s Office and an invocation by Chaplin Michelle Reynolds of the Arlington County (VA) Sheriff’s Office. The keynote speaker for the

remember and even out loud say the name of our col leagues and our friends that are here. I would ask you, before you leave here today, walk the circle. View a name of an individual that perhaps has no family here; has no family left to remember them. That is the pur pose of this wall.” Green cited the number of names etched on the me morial when it was dedicated was just over 12,000 while this year it will exceed 24,000. “There are currently over 950 correctional officers, correctional employees and correctional professionals on this wall. In the past month alone, our colleagues across the country mourn the loss of five correctional professionals and two of our colleagues in the state of North Carolina will be laid to rest next week. “ The wreath laying ceremony

event was introduced by Rodney Lusk, the Metropolitan Council of Governments Board of Directors Vice Chair. American Correctional Asso ciation Executive Director Robert Green began by noting he had been coming to this memorial since it was first dedicated in 1991. “I’m proud when I look out across this audience and I see many of you who have been com ing for just as long to maintain

was at the beginning of National Correctional Officers and Employ ees Week which is a week set aside to honor current and past correc tional employees. “Today, during National Cor rectional Officers and Employees Week we pause to honor them. Remember those who labored with courage, dedication and unwaver ing commitment. In the shadows

Photo courtesy Carla DeCarlo/American Correctional Association

the honor of the only ceremony done at this wall that nationally recognizes corrections professionals,” Green began. He gave a history of the long effort just to make this memorial happen telling the crowd it began in the early 1970’s before being formally dedicated in 1991. Summing up these efforts, Green noted: “Through out history, humanity has utilized stones as a medium for commemorating individuals telling their stories, transcending centuries and culture. It has always been viewed as the highest honor.” He continued “It’s tree-lined walkways form an incredibly perfect path to walk along the wall and

of these walls are etched the names of those who gave their lives in the line of duty. Officers, administrators, parole and probation managers, case managers, friends, Moms, Dads, sisters, brothers and people we dearly love,” Green said. Turning to the families of the fallen, Green added “To the families and loved ones of the fallen we offer our deepest gratitude, our admiration and our respect for your sacrifice, your strength, your enduring love which is the bedrock that sent them to work everyday in this noble calling. Your unwavering support, your faith in the mission and the work that we do is a beacon of light in the darkness of loss and grief.”

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Opposite page: Easel: Adobe Stock/Misbakhul; NCOEW photo courtesy Carla DeCarlo/American Correctional Association

Fall 2024 | Corrections Today

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