A Lincoln County man was among the fallen officers recently honored at a Department of Public Safety service.

Dale G. Russell, of Lincoln County, was killed in an accident Jan. 10, 1975, while working for the Motor Vehicle Comptroller. Margaret Ann Britt, of Brookhaven, was Russell’s widow.

During the National Police Week ceremony in May, Mississippi Highway Patrol Col. Chris Gillard read the names of the 37 men on the DPS memorial wall. After each name was read, a bell was rung once and a Trooper laid a rose on the memorial stone in that person’s memory. Family members placed some of the roses, or assisted in doing so.

The memorial headstone reads, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15:13).”

“The Mississippi Department of Public Safety will always honor and give reverence to the families of all of our fallen officers,” Gillard said, prior to reading the names in order of End of Watch dates, beginning in 1940.

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell also offered words of thanks and praise for both the fallen officers and their families.

A wreath was placed in front of the headstone at the close of the ceremony. Wreaths were also placed on each of the men’s graves on Sunday, May 22.

Names read were:

• Trooper Adrian Cole, Sept. 13, 1940 (Troop C, motorcycle crash)

• Capt. Loma L. Dyess, Oct. 27, 1942 (Troop F, accidental gunshot)

• Trooper First Class James M. Barry, Feb. 1, 1947 (Troop D, gunshot)*

• Trooper First Class Cyril J. Reichert, Feb. 5, 1947 (Troop K, gunshot)

• Trooper James H. Tingle, Sept. 7, 1950 (Troop J, automobile crash)

• Trooper Herbert E. Nixon, April 22, 1951 (Troop F, automobile crash)

• Trooper Carl M. Thatch, Jan. 15, 1954 (Troop D, automobile crash)*

• Capt. Walter W. Smith, Sept. 22, 1955 (Troop D, automobile crash)

• Trooper First Class Hurfu L. Duckworth, Aug. 19, 1959 (Troop J, gunshot)

• Trooper Daniel E. Smith, Nov. 7, 1959 (Troop H, automobile crash)*

• Sgt. Julian Davis, Nov. 27, 1963 (Troop F, automobile crash)

• Trooper Marcus LaMastus, July 17, 1965 (Troop D, gunshot)*

• Investigator B. Cowart, Aug. 6, 1965 (Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, Troop G, heart attack provoked by assault)*

• Sgt. Joseph A. Pol, Nov. 27, 1965 (Troop K, automobile crash)

• Trooper Tommy E. Kendall, May 16, 1966 (Troop D, gunshot)

• Master Sgt. William Kenny, Dec. 21, 1967 (Troop K, automobile crash)

• Sgt. William O. Swindoll, Oct. 5, 1968 (Troop D, automobile crash)*

• Sgt. Joe Clay, May 27, 1974 (Troop G, automobile crash)*

• Dale Russell, Jan. 10, 1975 (Motor Vehicle Comptroller, automobile crash)*

• Agent Lane Caldwell, Sept. 14, 1979 (Bureau of Narcotics, Troop F, gunshot)

• Trooper First Class Billy Langham, Dec. 31, 1981 (Troop J, gunshot)*

• Trooper George Danny Nash, Feb. 4, 1983 (Troop M, gunshot)

• Trooper Steven K. Gardner, March 23, 1984 (Troop C, gunshot)

• Cpl. James K. Bounds, Oct. 21, 1984 (Troop J, situational heart attack)

• Trooper First Class David Bruce Ladner, April 12, 1987 (Troop K, gunshot)*

• Staff Sgt. Ralph R. Newell, Oct. 28, 1988 (Troop J, automobile crash)*

• Trooper Tommie Earl Owens, July 28, 1989 (Troop G, train/automobile crash)

• Agent Robert Henry McLeod, Sept. 23, 1989 (Bureau of Narcotics, Troop G, automobile crash)

• Agent Spencer Glenn Beckley Sr., Dec. 23, 1989 (Bureau of Narcotics, Troop G, automobile crash)*

• Trooper Bobby L. Wells Jr., June 27, 1995 (Troop E, pedestrian/automobile crash)

• Agent Marc Lee Whatley, Aug. 20, 1998 (Bureau of Narcotics, Troop H, automobile crash)

• Trooper Paul Denham, Dec. 27, 1999 (Troop K, automobile crash)*

• Joey G. Magee, Jan. 11, 2007*

• Master Sgt. Steve Loy Hood, May 29, 2009 (Troop F, automobile crash)*

• Agent James Lee Tartt, Feb. 20, 2016 (Bureau of Narcotics, Troop D, gunshot)*

• Lt. Jeris Deon Davis, Dec. 29, 2020 (Troop D)*

• Trooper John Harris, May 28, 2021 (Troop C, pedestrian/automobile crash)*

*Family member placed or assisted in placing rose on the memorial stone.