County to honor fallen officers

LINDEN—Cass County will pause May 12 to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
Cass County Peace Officers Memorial Day will be held May 12, at 10 a.m. at the Cass County Law Enforcement and Justice Center, 604 TX Hwy 8, Linden. The public is invited and encouraged to attend.
During the service, flowers will be laid on markers at the courthouse which memorialize peace officers who served in Cass County and who have died in the line of service.
These officers are Constable Precinct 6 Charles F. Purdue (Jan. 21, 1889); Constable Precinct 5 L.F. Blackwell (July 31, 1937); License and Weight Trooper Howard Wayne Jordan (June 2, 1981); Trooper James Scott Burns (April 29, 2008) and Game Warden George Harold Whatley, Jr. (Oct. 10, 2008).
The names of those officers who reached their “end of watch” in 2015 will also be read.
Peace Officers Memorial Day and Police Week is an annual observance that pays tribute to the local, state, and federal peace officers who have died in the line of duty. The federal Memorial Day takes place on May 15 with Police Week celebrated the week in which the Memorial falls.
The holiday was created on Oct. 1, 1961, when Congress asked the president to designate May 15 to honor peace officers. John F. Kennedy signed the bill into law on Oct. 1, 1962.
The proclamation, signed by Kennedy, read:
To pay tribute to the law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country and to voice our appreciation for all those who currently serve on the front lines of the battle against crime, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved October 1, 1962 (75 Stat.676), has authorized and request¬ed the President to designate May 15 of each Memorial Day,” and the week in which it falls as “National Police Week” and by Public Law 103- 322 (36 U.S.C. 175) has requested that the flag be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers’ Memorial Day.
The law was amended in 1994 by then-President Bill Clinton, through Public Law 103- 322, who directed that the flag of the United States be flown at half-staff on May 15.
According to a proclamation by President George W. Bush in 2002,
“Peace Officers Memo¬rial Day and Police Week pay tribute to the local, State, and Federal law enforcement officers who serve and protect us with courage and dedication. These observances also remind us of the ongoing need to be vigilant against all forms of crime, especially to acts of extreme violence and terrorism.”