DONALSONVILLE, GA (WTXL) - Local law enforcement and the families of those who died in the line of duty started their journey Tuesday riding in the Police Unity Tour; a bike ride spanning over 200 miles.
The tour takes them from Virginia to Washington D.C. over three days, ending at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Wall.
The names of 16 officers from Georgia and Florida were added to the wall this year; however the two names being added from our area were both killed well over half a century ago.
The late Donalsonville Town Marshal, William Berry Freeman, is one of those names.
"It made it in a way seem all so real that he was honored for what he did even though he wasn't in law enforcement for that long. But it doesn't take but one gunshot and that's it," said Freeman's granddaughter, Patsy Roth.
Roth remembers the emotions she felt at the Georgia Public Safety Memorial in May of last year when she honored her late grandfather.
Freeman was killed in the line of duty 115 years ago when he was gunned down on February 26, 1901 in Donalsonville.
Roth expects seeing the memorial in Washington D.C. will be very touching too.
"He was actually trying to serve a warrant to a gentleman that was in town earlier by the last name of Yates who had got into some kind of a ruckus, never said what he did. But they took out four different warrants on him when he showed back up. He served the warrant and he was shot and killed," explained Donalsonville Police Chief Woodrow Blue.
Roth worked with Chief Blue complete the paperwork to have Freeman's name added to the wall, after she learned about fallen law enforcement memorials.
However, Roth says she doesn't know too much about her grandfather, "My father was born in 1898 so my father was two years old when he was killed so there's not a lot of history there."
But his sacrifice will never be forgotten.
Hezekiah Williams, a White Spring Police Officer, was also added to the wall. His end of watch was March 7, 1937, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. He was shot and killed while raiding a gambling house.
These two men aren't the only names being added despite the fact that they were killed long ago.
According to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund, last year over 150 officers were added who were killed in prior years but had been forgotten by time until the Memorial Fund's research staff and a team of dedicated volunteers found record of their law enforcement service."
