Oconee Deputies Honor Fallen Brethren at National Police Week

In Washington, D.C., there are two marble walls, each more than 300 feet long, that list the names of 19,298 law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty. They're often covered with flowers and flags, pictures of loved ones and teddy bears dressed as police officers.

In Oconee County, there's an agency that misses one of its own.

Officers from the went to Washington, D.C. in 2009, not to wander through the halls of the Smithsonian museums or pose for pictures outside of the White House's iron fence. They were there for the induction ceremony of their fallen brother – Sheriff's deputy David Gilstrap.

They made the same trip in 2010 and again last month. But the most recent times they weren't there because the OSCO lost another of its finest. Inspired by the warm reception they received during one of the Sheriff's office's toughest times, they went back to help others.

It's called National Police Week, and it was touching enough that three members of the OCSO – Lt. Stephen Guest, Lt. Griffin Attaberry and Cpl. Shane Partain – have gone back every year.

“It means a lot; they're taking this on themselves,” said Lee Weems, chief deputy. “This is something that they . They wanted to basically pay their respects for people that were going through the same thing that our guys went through.”

The cost to taxpayers: $0.

The funds for the trip are raised through donations and a Deputies to D.C. raffle. This year, two raffled rifles, coupled with a garage door opener, netted the team $9,888, more than enough to make it to the nation's capital.

Attaberry said the group took motorcycles this year and were just three of more than 200 motorcycles in the motorcade that escorted the families of fallen officers from Reagan National Airport to their hotels in what he called one of the “proudest moments of my life.”

Attaberry said from the moment the families step off the plane, everything is taken care of: baggage, escorts, even red lights don't stand in the way of those who have sacrificed most.

“You could tell they were just overwhelmed at the show of support,” he said. “I think they were shocked. It's a pretty overwhelming experience, I'm sure, for the survivors.”

National Police Week has been a Washington, D.C. tradition since 1962 and plays host to an array of events including memorial services, candlelight vigils and seminars for grieving family members, friends and co-workers. According to the National Police Week website, the event – which was held May 9 to 16 this year – draws between 25,000 and 40,000 people to nation's capital yearly.

Three organizations come together to host National Police Week – the Fraternal Order of Police, Concerns of Police Survivors, and the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, responsible for the memorial wall dedicated to fallen officers.

The wall increased by 316 names this year, said Steve Groeninger, director of communications for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. More than 150 of the names were officers killed in the line of duty in 2010, what Groeninger called a numerical “uptick in fatalities.”

And 2011, he said, is even worse.

Fatalities are up 13 percent over this time last year, with a particular spike in the number of officers killed via firearms – up 35 percent, he said.

He said the wall is important for grieving families because it reminds them that their loved ones did not die in vain and will be forever honored by their country. It's a sentiment Groeninger said he's heard countless times.

“I hear it so often from the survivors, what they tell us, it's because that officer deserves to be honored forever in our nation's history,” he said. “They've made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty and our county owes them a debt of gratitude.”

Oconee County's three representatives participated in many of the week's events, including the ceremony on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol, the candlelight vigil at the wall and a speech by Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.

They even worked so hard that an escort coordinator of the event called the superiors of five agencies out of the hundreds represented to report how great the deputies had worked and represented their agencies. Oconee County was one of them.

Attaberry, Partain and Guest hadn't gone to National Police Week before Gilstrap's name joined nearly 20,000 others on the wall memorializing fallen soldiers, but they have signed up to attend the event every year since.

And they're not done yet.

Attaberry said as long as the community continues to support their efforts, they'll continue making the journey to the capital to honor men and women who have given everything the protect their communities.

They even have a head start on their fundraising efforts, having money left over from the trip in May.

“To see that many names on the wall of people who do the job I do every day, it's very difficult to fathom,” Attaberry said. “It drives the nature of our business home.”