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By Payton Towns III – The Union-Recorder

Law enforcement agencies in Milledgeville and Baldwin County will remember two men Thursday who died in the line of duty serving their community.

The public is invited to attend a ceremony at 8:30 a.m. Thursday at Memory Hill Cemetery remembering William Robinson IV, a Baldwin County sheriff’s deputy, and Charles N. Haygood, a deputy marshal killed in the line of duty Feb. 27, 1886.

Chief Woodrow Blue Jr. of the Milledgeville Police Department will speak about Haygood while Sheriff Bill Massee will talk about Robinson. The MPD honor guard will do a 21-gun salute and place wreaths on their graves. “Amazing Grace” will be played on bagpipes when the wreaths are laid, said Mark Bell III, chief of detectives.

“I don’t see it being more than 30 minutes,” he said.

The first annual law enforcement memorial golf tournament at Little Fishing Creek begins at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. The public is welcome to attend.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a law that named May 15 of every year as Peace Officers’ Memorial Day.

On Tuesday, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund in Washington, D.C., honored 377 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. Haygood was one of 10 from Georgia recognized.

The others were Christopher Robert Betts (East Point Police Department), Melvin Grigley (Atlanta Police Department), Ann Marie Guinta (DeKalb County Police Department), Dan Harrison (Georgia Department of Corrections), James Grover Henderson Jr. (Georgia Department of Corrections), Billy Ray Jiles (Carroll County Sheriff’s Office), Henry Orlander Johnson (Muscogee County Police Department), Thomas James Kersey (Hazlehurst Police Department), Robert L. Massey (Brunswick Police Department), James T. Moye (Seaboard Air Line Railroad Police Department) and Warren James Waters (Jeff Davis Sheriff’s Office).

According to the NLEOMF, 148 officers of the 377 were killed in the line of duty in 2002. The other 229 are historical – names not recorded or reported. Officials said names are always being added.

The first name inscribed on the memorial dates from 1792, which is the first recorded law enforcement death. The memorial has 16,304 names on it, which includes Robinson, Haygood and John T. “Sonny” King III, agent in charge at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in Milledgeville.

The memorial was dedicated in 1991 by President George Bush and honors all federal, state and local law enforcement officers who have been killed in the line of duty.

“We are indebted to these men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice,” wrote NLEOMF Chairman Craig Floyd. “Sadly, these walls one day will be filled. We, therefore, are proud to honor the 870,000 federal, state and local officers who continue to put their lives on the line everyday to keep us safe.”

In 2001, 230 officers were killed making it the deadliest year for law enforcement. Of those 230, 72 were killed on Sept. 11. According to NLEOMF, a law enforcement officer is killed somewhere in America every 53 hours.

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