Cumberland law agencies gather for Officer Memorial
FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina (WTVD) -- No new names have been added to this memorial in the past 16 years. Still, officers from across Cumberland County gathered to pay tribute to these fallen heroes.
The annual Peace Officer Memorial Service began with a word of prayer covering law enforcement across the country.
A total of 35 officers from several agencies in the county have died in the line of duty in the past 110 years.
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The ceremony brought law enforcement from Fort Bragg, Hope Mills, Spring Lake and Highway Patrol together to honor fallen brothers in arms.
Ron and Thelma Matthews lost their son, deputy sheriff Christopher Bryan Matthews in a car accident in the line of duty in September 2005. They come here every year to pay tribute to their son.
"It's more than just a memorial," Ron Matthews said. "To think that each one of those names represents a family, represented a life. Not just law enforcement but everybody on that wall had something they loved to do, somebody that they loved and cared for. And I think that's a large part of what that memorial is."
