The Mountain-Ear
The voice of the Peak to Peak
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| County Corner, May 21, 2009 |
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| Written by administrator | |
| Wednesday, 20 May 2009 | |
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County Corner, May 21, 2009 By Roger Baker Last Wednesday, on May 13, there was a ceremony, as there is every year about this time, at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. There were 387 names added to the memorial, bringing the depressing total to 18,661. Of these 387 names, 133 were for officers slain in 2008, the remainder for those who died in the line of duty in previous years. Among the latter is one dating back to 1869; Robert A. Clark, the first Marshal of the City of Black Hawk, who was killed in an almost trivial exchange of gunfire in July of that year. After his death, the local newspaper noted that the funeral was reportedly “the largest that ever occurred in Gilpin County. A procession went from the Masonic lodge, to the Clark home, and the Presbyterian Church, before taking Clark to his final rest at the Masonic cemetery.” Current Black Hawk Police Chief Steve Cole did a lot of the historical research necessary to have Clark’s name added to the memorial and deserves a lot of credit for his efforts. A few years later, Richard Broad Williams, a former Sheriff of Gilpin County—he was also Mayor of Central City, and a County Commissioner—was also killed in a shootout; his funeral was also alleged to be the largest ever held in the County, and was actually conducted in the Opera House, one of only a few times the facility was put to such use. This weekend, of course, is Memorial Day, a special day set aside by an Act of Congress to honor America’s servicemen and servicewomen who have lost their lives in defense of their country. Originally known as Decoration Day, it was first established to honor the nation’s casualties in the Civil War. Down on the first floor of the Old Courthouse, there’s a lovely old plaque with the names of Gilpin County men who served in some of our nation’s more recent conflicts; just to the left, there’s a small curio case with photographs and memorabilia about the County’s Sheriffs over the years. It’s good that we have these times and places set aside to recognize and remember these special people who have served us all, through good times and bad, in incidents foreign and domestic. None of these are easy jobs, and we should all be grateful that we have folks willing to step up and do them. But we can do more than honor our veterans. By state statute, each County is to have a Veterans Service Officer, a veteran who is charged with the role of facilitating our local veterans’ contacts with local, state and federal government programs. The County Commissioners last appointed Denis Darby to this position in May, 2007. By the same statute, his two-year term is up, so we’ll need to re-advertise the opening, though of course Denis can (and we hope will) reapply. Denis has worked hard—and very creatively—to make sure our local veterans get the benefits to which they are entitled. Far too often in recent years, the flags at the various County buildings have been at half-staff, lowered by order of the Governor to honor a state resident killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. While it’s gratifying to see on television the large number of citizens who attend the funerals for these fallen warriors, just as when any local law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty, it’s also heartbreaking to see the families from whom these young men and women were taken away all too soon. Let’s continue to honor and serve our veterans, while hoping that such funerals in Gilpin County remain a part of our legendary past. |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 27 May 2009 ) |
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