Candlelight Vigil Will Honor Fallen Lawmen

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Release: Prince William County Police Department

National Police Week is May 10-16, and National Peace Officers Memorial Day is May 15. Each May, communities nationwide pay tribute to the thousands of law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their communities.

A memorial and tribute service – including a candlelight vigil for fallen law enforcement officers who lived, or served, in greater Prince William County – will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at the Dr. A.J. Ferlazzo Government Building, 15941 Donald Curtis Drive, Woodbridge.

This annual event is free and open to the public, and is sponsored by the Prince William County Citizen Police Academy Alumni Association. It honors the lives and service of 16 men who lived or served in Prince William County and died in the line of duty. They are:

• Justice of the Peace Thomas Simms Meredith, Prince William County Circuit Court - July 1922
• Trooper Jackie M. Bussard, Virginia State Police – May 1970
• Officer Paul T. White Jr., Prince William County Police – October 1973
• Investigator Claude Everett Seymour, Virginia State Police – April 1975
• Trooper Johnny R. Bowman, Virginia State Police – August 1984
• Sgt. John D. Conner III, Manassas City Police – July 1988
• Officer Phillip M. Pennington, Prince William County Police – November 1990
• Trooper Jose M. Cavazos, Virginia State Police – February 1993
• Special Agent William H. Christian Jr., Federal Bureau of Investigation – May 1995
• Detective John M. Gibson, United States Capitol Police – July 1998
• Officer Marlon E. Morales, Metro Transit Police – June 2001
• Second Lt. Francis Joseph Stecco, Fairfax County Police – October 2008
• Special Agent Chad L. Michael, Drug Enforcement Administration – October 2009
• Special Agent Forrest N. Leamon, Drug Enforcement Administration – October 2009
• Officer Paul Michael Dittamo, Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police – October 2010
• Officer Chris Yung, Prince William County Police – December 2012

Prince William Police Chief Steve Hudson said the tribute is a way for the community recognize those law enforcement officers who lived, or worked, in greater Prince William County and who gave their lives in the line of duty.

“It is also a time to recognize those peace officers who continue to courageously and conscientiously maintain a delicate balance between the liberty of the individual and a high degree of social protection,” he said.