Remarks as Prepared for Delivery for
The Honorable Dirk Kempthorne
Secretary of the Interior
DOI Law Enforcement Wreath Laying Ceremony
May 14, 2007
Today we mark a solemn occasion – a ceremony of remembrance for the 96 Department of the Interior law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. Men and women whose names are engraved on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. This is a ceremony of thanksgiving for their service to -- and sacrifice for -- the American people.
Many words come to mind at such a time of remembrance and thanksgiving. Courage. Duty. Honor. Valor. Heroism.
These words transcend time. They connect officers from the past with the officers of today -- those who served long ago on foot and horseback and those who serve today in automobiles and airplanes.
Captain Chin Chi Kee was the first Department of the Interior law enforcement officer to give his life in the line of duty. The year was 1852. The department was just three years old. Captain Kee worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He was shot and killed while attempting to arrest four whiskey smugglers near Tishomingo, the capital of Chickasaw Nation in what is now Oklahoma. Armed with only a knife, he subdued three of the smugglers. The fourth shot him to death.
His actions are a reminder that our law enforcement officers often courageously do their duty against great odds, even at the risk of their own lives.
We honor Captain Chin Chi Kee today.
In 1922, U.S. Game Warden Edgar Albert Lindgren, an agent with what later became the Fish and Wildlife Service, was conducting a routine check of hunting licenses at Big Lake in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Three men shot and killed him.
His death is a reminder that for law enforcement officers, even the most routine duties can entail great risk.
We honor Game Warden Albert Lindgren today.
In March of 1960, Park Service District Ranger Gale Wilcox was on backcountry patrol with Ranger John Fonda at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Crossing a frozen river, Ranger Fonda fell through the ice.
Even though he did not know how to swim, Ranger Wilcox crawled across the ice to attempt a rescue. The ice cracked and he himself fell into the river. Both men died.
Their deaths remind us of the willingness of law enforcement officers to risk their own lives to save others.
We honor Rangers Gale Wilcox and John Fonda today.
On September 11, 2001, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Refuge Manager Rich Guadagno [Gwa-dawn-yo] boarded United Flight 93 as he returned to his duties from a vacation. As a refuge manager, he was responsible for law enforcement as a collateral duty.
When terrorists seized the airplane and attempted to fly it to Washington to crash into the Capitol or the White House, the passengers of United 93 fought back. The plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. We cannot calculate how many lives the passengers’ heroic action may have saved.
Anyone who knew Rich Guadagno knows he was there, leading the charge. His actions remind us that law enforcement officers are always prepared to do their duty. Indeed, they are never truly off duty.
We honor Refuge Manager Rich Guadagno today.
The Department of the Interior has 4,000 law enforcement officers, the third largest law enforcement contingent in the federal government. Some of these officers face danger in remote locations under adverse conditions. Places like the wilderness of Alaska or the deserts of the Southwest. Some protect vital national assets such as Bureau of Reclamation dams.
Others protect us right where we live and work, where danger might lurk in a common briefcase or overcoat. They protect visitors to our national parks and monuments. They work hand-in-hand with tribal law enforcement to ensure the safety of reservations and American Indian communities. They enforce our laws on wildlife refuges, lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and other public lands. They ensure that the federal workplace is safe. They are charged with investigating virtually every form of criminal activity from homicides to drug dealing to poaching. They perform their duties superbly.
I am thankful that in 2006, none of our law enforcement officers died in the line of duty. May this be the case every year.
May we always remember those who have died in the past.
May we honor their sacrifice.
May we pray for and support their families.
May we hold them in our hearts in thanksgiving for their service to our country.