Fort Worth dedicates Fort Worth Police & Firefighters Memorial
Fort Worth police Sgt. Kevin Foster (left) is the department's historian and researched the names of the fallen police officers and firefighters in the city. CLEAT Special Counsel Ron DeLord (right), founder of the Peace Officers Memorial Foundation, attended the dedication.
http://www.star-telegram.com/metro_news/story/1417865.html
Posted on Fri, Jun. 05, 2009
By ELIZABETH ZAVALA
ezavala@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH — As a light breeze blew under a sunny sky, Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief on Friday dedicated the city’s first memorial to honor public servants who were killed in the line of duty.
Hundreds of people attended the Friday morning event in Trinity Park, including many relatives of the 95 fallen public servants — three deputy city marshals, 37 firefighters and 55 police officers.
"Achievement is rooted in personal sacrifice. These heroes put their lives on the line," Moncrief said at the dedication Friday morning of the Fort Worth Police & Firefighters Memorial at Trinity Park. "They put the lives of the public citizens above their own. . . . They made the ultimate sacrifice."
The project, 20 years in the making, took the efforts of many people, organizers have said. Donations from individuals and companies funded the $1.2 million project, which is on 5 acres donated by the city.
"Fort Worth had unfinished business until we completed this project," Moncrief said. "We could not put ourselves up with other cities. Now, we can. This is a legacy of this great city."
Moncrief’s three bold strokes to a historic Masonic bell — used as early as 1855 to announce the deaths and funerals of Fort Worth police officers and firefighters — began the roll call of the city’s fallen heroes.
Officials from the Fort Worth Fire Department and Police Department called out the names in order of the year in which the public servants died.
Among the hundreds in attendance were Jammie Schmunk and her daughter, Megan. Schmunk drove in from The Woodlands to meet her brother and sister for the ceremony.
Jammie Schmunk was 11 when her father, James C. Gaul, was fatally wounded in January 1979.
Gaul and other Fort Worth police officers were answering a call about a man who had been firing a gun.
As Gaul and another officer went toward the front of the house, Gaul was shot in the head and leg. The suspect was killed in a gunbattle with police.
"One person can make a huge difference, whether it’s our dad or the person who thought of the memorial," Jammie Schmunk said. "One person can touch everyone’s lives."
Teresa Nava, widow of slain Fort Worth police officer Henry "Hank" Nava Jr., helped her children, KayLeigh, 13, and Justin, 8, trace an etching of their father’s name on the memorial.
A photograph of the officer, surrounded by flowers, leaned against the granite underneath his name.
On Nov. 29, 2005, Nava and two other officers went to the home of Stephen Lance Heard, who was wanted on a parole violation warrant. After a woman allowed the officer in to search the home, Nava opened a bedroom door and told officers that the man was inside.
Police said that Heard started shooting, and a gunbattle ensued inside the northwest Fort Worth mobile home. Nava was shot in the head. He died two days later.
Two years after the officer’s death, a Tarrant County jury sentenced Heard to life in prison without parole for killing Nava.
On Friday, the Nava family stood for several minutes in front of the memorial, taking pictures. Teresa Nava said Friday was about 3 1/2 years since the day when her husband was buried.
"This is absolutely wonderful," she said.
The memorial consists of bronze sculptures of a firefighter and a police officer holding a horse. Nearby, two high walls list the names of the fallen.
http://www.star-telegram.com/metro_news/story/1417865.html
Posted on Fri, Jun. 05, 2009
By ELIZABETH ZAVALA
ezavala@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH — As a light breeze blew under a sunny sky, Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief on Friday dedicated the city’s first memorial to honor public servants who were killed in the line of duty.
Hundreds of people attended the Friday morning event in Trinity Park, including many relatives of the 95 fallen public servants — three deputy city marshals, 37 firefighters and 55 police officers.
"Achievement is rooted in personal sacrifice. These heroes put their lives on the line," Moncrief said at the dedication Friday morning of the Fort Worth Police & Firefighters Memorial at Trinity Park. "They put the lives of the public citizens above their own. . . . They made the ultimate sacrifice."
The project, 20 years in the making, took the efforts of many people, organizers have said. Donations from individuals and companies funded the $1.2 million project, which is on 5 acres donated by the city.
"Fort Worth had unfinished business until we completed this project," Moncrief said. "We could not put ourselves up with other cities. Now, we can. This is a legacy of this great city."
Moncrief’s three bold strokes to a historic Masonic bell — used as early as 1855 to announce the deaths and funerals of Fort Worth police officers and firefighters — began the roll call of the city’s fallen heroes.
Officials from the Fort Worth Fire Department and Police Department called out the names in order of the year in which the public servants died.
Among the hundreds in attendance were Jammie Schmunk and her daughter, Megan. Schmunk drove in from The Woodlands to meet her brother and sister for the ceremony.
Jammie Schmunk was 11 when her father, James C. Gaul, was fatally wounded in January 1979.
Gaul and other Fort Worth police officers were answering a call about a man who had been firing a gun.
As Gaul and another officer went toward the front of the house, Gaul was shot in the head and leg. The suspect was killed in a gunbattle with police.
"One person can make a huge difference, whether it’s our dad or the person who thought of the memorial," Jammie Schmunk said. "One person can touch everyone’s lives."
Teresa Nava, widow of slain Fort Worth police officer Henry "Hank" Nava Jr., helped her children, KayLeigh, 13, and Justin, 8, trace an etching of their father’s name on the memorial.
A photograph of the officer, surrounded by flowers, leaned against the granite underneath his name.
On Nov. 29, 2005, Nava and two other officers went to the home of Stephen Lance Heard, who was wanted on a parole violation warrant. After a woman allowed the officer in to search the home, Nava opened a bedroom door and told officers that the man was inside.
Police said that Heard started shooting, and a gunbattle ensued inside the northwest Fort Worth mobile home. Nava was shot in the head. He died two days later.
Two years after the officer’s death, a Tarrant County jury sentenced Heard to life in prison without parole for killing Nava.
On Friday, the Nava family stood for several minutes in front of the memorial, taking pictures. Teresa Nava said Friday was about 3 1/2 years since the day when her husband was buried.
"This is absolutely wonderful," she said.
The memorial consists of bronze sculptures of a firefighter and a police officer holding a horse. Nearby, two high walls list the names of the fallen.
