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The ultimate sacrifice




The ultimate sacrifice

The ultimate sacrifice

Law enforcement agencies from across Sumner County gathered last week to remember those officers who died in the line of duty.

The annual Sumner County Sheriff’s Office Law Enforcement Memorial Service, held at the General Session Court plaza in Gallatin on May 16, included a 21-gun salute, playing of taps and remarks from Chief Deputy Aaron Pickard and Anne Holt from WKRN News 2.

“Law enforcement officers put themselves at risk every day when they leave home,” Pickard told those in attendance. “Not for their own personal gain, but for the safety of their neighbor. Most return home, but some make the ultimate sacrifice.”

The service was held during National Police Week, which was established by Congress in 1962 to recognize officers who have died while in the service and protection of others.

“We are all familiar with this thin blue line,” Pickard said. “It is the visual example that law enforcement officers are the barrier between law and order and social and civil anarchy. The men who we honor today were the human representation of that protection.”

The fallen Sumner County law enforcement officers are:

  • Deputy Ulysses S. Brent, Sumner County Sheriff’s Office (May 9, 1930)
  • Officer James Gammons, Hendersonville Police Department (July 13, 1974)
  • Sgt. Richard Bandy, Hendersonville Police Department (Jan. 19, 1980)
  • Sgt. Steve Downing, Gallatin Police Department (April 12, 1985)
  • Sgt. Jody Sadek, Hendersonville Police Department (Sept. 20, 1988)
  • Det. David Mandrell, Sumner County Sheriff’s Office (June 28, 1988)
  • Det. Lynn Hicks, Goodlettsville Police Department (May 22, 1999)
  • Officer Danny MacClary, Hendersonville Police Department (Sept. 27, 2000)
  • Deputy Brian Denniny, Sumner County Sheriff’s Office (Dec. 8, 2008)

“They gave all that they had to the citizen of Sumner County,” Pickard said about the fallen officers. “The families of these men lost their best, and I only ask that they know that the sacrifices made will never be forgotten.”

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