CONCORD — The annual New Hampshire Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Ceremony is always bittersweet for Frances Charron, whose son, Epsom Police Officer Jeremy Charron was shot to death Aug. 24, 1997, when he sought to check out a car where two men were sleeping.
“It’s nice that other people honor the loss,” she said, but it is also a reminder that her son is gone through a violent action. “It is important that they are remembered.”
She said each time Jeremy is honored with an award or a naming ceremony, or when she attends this annual event, it is melancholy. She said it is a reminder she is a member of a club nobody wants to join.
But she also is glad to see other members of that club, like Sue Miller Habaj, the widow of Manchester Police Officer Ralph Miller who was fatally shot Oct. 2, 1976, when he and his partner responded to a reported domestic incident on Somerville Street.
Charron said she looks forward to seeing Habaj and others who fully appreciate the pain of her loss. There are also happy moments, as when Portsmouth Police Officer Michelle Montville greeted her and told her how proud she was to have been the recipient of the Jeremy Charron Award given annually to a criminal justice student at New Hampshire Technical Institute, where Charron also studied.
“I have it hanging on my wall,” said Montville, who hugged Charron.
Charron and others noted that Friday’s ceremony, like most of the past ceremonies, was conducted in an intermittent light rain. But many in the audience at the New Hampshire Law Enforcement Officers Memorial on State Street, behind the State House, ignored the weather, forgoing umbrellas during the ceremony that is solemn and reassuring.
Gov. John Lynch said the ceremony is an opportunity to honor those “who have given their own lives so that we can be safe (and) to ensure that the sacrifice of the 43 officers being honored was not in vain.”
Lynch said New Hampshire has stood with the families, continues to do so, and will tomorrow. “You will forever remain in our thoughts and our prayers,” said Lynch. “Thank you.”
Keynote speaker David Cargill, U.S. Marshal for the District of New Hampshire, spoke of the bonds of those in law enforcement. He said he was one of six men sworn in together as New Hampshire State Troopers in 1986. He said they forged an unbreakable bond, despite later being given different troop assignments.
Only three years later, he said, one of those men was gone. Trooper Gary Parker died in a patrol car/lumber truck accident in November 1989 along with fellow trooper Joseph Gearty and the prisoner they were escorting.
“Today we pay tribute,” said Cargill, but he said members of the law enforcement community honor the fallen by doing their jobs every day.
A new name was added to the list of honorees this year, that of the first known New Hampshire law enforcement officer to die in the line of duty.
The name of Laconia Officer Charles H. Dolloff, who died at age 45 of a heart attack after breaking up fights at the horse races at the Laconia Fair Grounds on July 18, 1889, brings the Roll of Honor total to 43.
Robin Moyer, the Laconia Police Department’s information technology manager, learned of Dolloff’s death in a newspaper article while she was researching the history of the department.
As Attorney General Michael Delaney read the names of the 43 fallen officers, Moyer was the first person escorted to the commemorative star wreath, where she placed a red flower for Dolloff. Moyer was followed by family and law enforcement officers representing the remaining 42 fallen officers, who placed red flowers for each fallen officer.
In addition, white flowers were placed to honor New Hampshire officers who died outside the line of duty, officers outside New Hampshire who died in the line of duty, soldiers who fought and gave their lives in the effort, the daily sacrifices of all living officers, and those officers injured in the line of duty.
The Londonderry High School Marching Band and the New Hampshire Police Association Pipes and Drum Band performed musical selections, and Concord’s Beaver Meadow School fourth- and fifth-grade chorus sang a medley of patriotic songs.
Also at the ceremony was the girder from a 24th-floor elevator shaft at the World Trade Center, which was recently brought to New Hampshire by the Hudson Fire Department. Noting that the 10th anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks is approaching, retired Fish and Game Major Timothy J. Acerno, who heads the memorial committee, said the American flag-draped girder provides an opportunity to reflect on the events of that day, when so many law enforcement officers and firefighters made the ultimate sacrifice in an effort to assist and protect those in the buildings struck by the hijacked airplanes.
“It’s nice that other people honor the loss,” she said, but it is also a reminder that her son is gone through a violent action. “It is important that they are remembered.”
She said each time Jeremy is honored with an award or a naming ceremony, or when she attends this annual event, it is melancholy. She said it is a reminder she is a member of a club nobody wants to join.
But she also is glad to see other members of that club, like Sue Miller Habaj, the widow of Manchester Police Officer Ralph Miller who was fatally shot Oct. 2, 1976, when he and his partner responded to a reported domestic incident on Somerville Street.
Charron said she looks forward to seeing Habaj and others who fully appreciate the pain of her loss. There are also happy moments, as when Portsmouth Police Officer Michelle Montville greeted her and told her how proud she was to have been the recipient of the Jeremy Charron Award given annually to a criminal justice student at New Hampshire Technical Institute, where Charron also studied.
“I have it hanging on my wall,” said Montville, who hugged Charron.
Charron and others noted that Friday’s ceremony, like most of the past ceremonies, was conducted in an intermittent light rain. But many in the audience at the New Hampshire Law Enforcement Officers Memorial on State Street, behind the State House, ignored the weather, forgoing umbrellas during the ceremony that is solemn and reassuring.
Gov. John Lynch said the ceremony is an opportunity to honor those “who have given their own lives so that we can be safe (and) to ensure that the sacrifice of the 43 officers being honored was not in vain.”
Lynch said New Hampshire has stood with the families, continues to do so, and will tomorrow. “You will forever remain in our thoughts and our prayers,” said Lynch. “Thank you.”
Keynote speaker David Cargill, U.S. Marshal for the District of New Hampshire, spoke of the bonds of those in law enforcement. He said he was one of six men sworn in together as New Hampshire State Troopers in 1986. He said they forged an unbreakable bond, despite later being given different troop assignments.
Only three years later, he said, one of those men was gone. Trooper Gary Parker died in a patrol car/lumber truck accident in November 1989 along with fellow trooper Joseph Gearty and the prisoner they were escorting.
“Today we pay tribute,” said Cargill, but he said members of the law enforcement community honor the fallen by doing their jobs every day.
A new name was added to the list of honorees this year, that of the first known New Hampshire law enforcement officer to die in the line of duty.
The name of Laconia Officer Charles H. Dolloff, who died at age 45 of a heart attack after breaking up fights at the horse races at the Laconia Fair Grounds on July 18, 1889, brings the Roll of Honor total to 43.
Robin Moyer, the Laconia Police Department’s information technology manager, learned of Dolloff’s death in a newspaper article while she was researching the history of the department.
As Attorney General Michael Delaney read the names of the 43 fallen officers, Moyer was the first person escorted to the commemorative star wreath, where she placed a red flower for Dolloff. Moyer was followed by family and law enforcement officers representing the remaining 42 fallen officers, who placed red flowers for each fallen officer.
In addition, white flowers were placed to honor New Hampshire officers who died outside the line of duty, officers outside New Hampshire who died in the line of duty, soldiers who fought and gave their lives in the effort, the daily sacrifices of all living officers, and those officers injured in the line of duty.
The Londonderry High School Marching Band and the New Hampshire Police Association Pipes and Drum Band performed musical selections, and Concord’s Beaver Meadow School fourth- and fifth-grade chorus sang a medley of patriotic songs.
Also at the ceremony was the girder from a 24th-floor elevator shaft at the World Trade Center, which was recently brought to New Hampshire by the Hudson Fire Department. Noting that the 10th anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks is approaching, retired Fish and Game Major Timothy J. Acerno, who heads the memorial committee, said the American flag-draped girder provides an opportunity to reflect on the events of that day, when so many law enforcement officers and firefighters made the ultimate sacrifice in an effort to assist and protect those in the buildings struck by the hijacked airplanes.
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