Relatives, friends, officials and members of the agency gathered at the Jackson headquarters of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks to remember conservation officers who lost their lives while keeping guard over the most remote regions of the state.
MDWFP Executive Director Lynn Posey gave remarks.
Shamira Muhammad
The MS Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks honors officers killed in the line of duty
“This memorial service, taking place during National Police Week, is a reminder of the risks officers face every day and the unwavering commitment they bring to their work,” he said.
“We're here to honor those whose watch ended way too soon, but whose legacy remains forever etched in the lands they loved, the waters they protected, and the communities they served,” said State Representative Bill Kinkade, who chairs the House Wildlife and Fisheries Committee.
He emphasized that the dozen officers being honored were unique among law enforcement: often having to keep watch against crises like wildfires, boating accidents or pursuing armed traffickers and poachers.
“Their patrol is solitary. Their jurisdiction stretches across forests, rivers, lakes, waterways, mountains, open fields,” said Kinkade. “Their office is not behind a desk. Nor confined to city streets. Their beats are measured in miles of winding waterways and dense timberland, remote back roads, vast stretches of public land where danger may be just around the corner.”
Family members of fallen officers were presented with mementos and allowed to attach ribbons featuring their loved one’s names onto an agency flag.
Alma Lorton is the daughter of Officer Hi Eastland Johnson, a game warden killed in the line of duty in 1952. She wants the public to better understand and recognize the inherent dangers wildlife first responders face.
“It's very important because there are guns involved and it's very important to have people obey and be safe,” she said.
The death of Lorton’s father in an area with concealed risks continues to make her emotional.
“They had had a meeting early that morning, the game wardens, getting ready for a season that was coming up, a hunting season,” she said tearing up. “They were going from that place to another place and following each other in the cars. Daddy crossed over one railroad track that had a marker, but then some feet down the way, there was another railroad track that didn't have a marker. He didn't know and the train was going very very fast and hit him and killed him.”
The MDWFP Color Guard honored the fallen officers with ceremonial shots into the forests surrounding the agency.