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News Articles
Fargo Forum
Local emergency
agencies plan memorial
04/17/2006 - By Melinda Rogers
Jerry Decker was well-known in tiny Hunter, N.D., when he
suffered a heart attack at age 54 while transporting a cardiac patient to the
hospital.
Friends and colleagues remember Decker – who died in 1992 – as a dedicated volunteer with Hunter’s ambulance service.
“He was a former policeman, a fireman and was very active in the ambulance (service),” said Kenny Habiger of Casselton, a member of the Rural Cass County Ambulance and Rescue Association.
“He died in the line of duty.”
There are few cases in Cass and Clay counties like Decker’s, where emergency services employees died while working.
But a local group of police, firefighters and emergency services workers say Fargo-Moorhead needs to do more to honor those who’ve paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Representatives from F-M Ambulance, the Clay County EMS Association, the Rural Cass County Ambulance and Rescue Association and the Fargo, Moorhead, West Fargo and Dilworth fire and police departments are collaborating to build a memorial for employees killed in the line of duty.
Preliminary plans call for building a memorial in Fargo’s Lindenwood Park consisting of four granite monuments inscribed with the names of fallen officers and the dates of their deaths.
Police, fire and emergency services will be represented on three monuments, with the fourth monument serving as an entrance stone, plans show.
Space allows for inscribing 20 names on each stone. Organizers are still researching and gathering names of those killed, said Don Martin, a medic for F-M Ambulance and chairman of the memorial’s committee.
Four flag poles would surround the memorial, which has a tentative theme of “band of brothers.”
The memorial’s estimated cost is $60,000. So far money for the project hasn’t been secured.
Organizers are seeking contributions from cities and counties and will coordinate a fundraising campaign, Martin said.
He began groundwork for the memorial four years ago. In 2002, Congress appropriated funding for the Law Enforcement Tribute Act, which allowed one-time grants to communities for monuments honoring fallen servicemen and women.
Fargo-Moorhead wasn’t ready to apply for a grant at that time, Martin said. Within a year, the U.S. Department of Justice had used up all the money by distributing $700,000 to U.S. communities.
Martin then approached Fargo’s fire and police departments about building a memorial, despite missing out on grant funds.
The idea spread to Clay County, and departments decided to form a consortium to pursue a memorial.
“They jumped on it and said ‘Let’s do it.’ It started ballooning and ballooning,” Martin said.
Habiger said a memorial would ensure the public remembers people like Decker, who Habiger remembers from training sessions and association meetings.
“I think it’s a way of recognizing people that went above and beyond the call of duty,” Habiger said.
“It would be a very nice fitting tribute.”
While there are few qualms about the memorial’s intention, the idea has sparked criticism from some local officials who say the planning lacked public input.
Several Moorhead City Council members said last week that the inscription chosen for the memorial – “band of brothers” – excludes women who served in emergency services.
“We live in a new age. If we shed our blood along with our brothers, I think the title shouldn’t omit us,” said Councilwoman Diane Wray Williams.
Moorhead Mayor Mark Voxland also questioned why cities and counties weren’t included in the memorial’s planning process but are now expected to foot the bill.
“I’m at a loss to why we’d be picking up the lion’s share of the cost,” Voxland said.
The memorial’s committee is asking cities and counties to contribute the following: Fargo $22,500, Moorhead $8,640, West Fargo $4,005, Dilworth $810, Cass County $4,725 and Clay County $4,320.
Contribution amounts were derived from a formula used by MetroCOG, a transportation planning agency that serves the Red River Valley.
The committee plans to donate $15,000, which it anticipates raising through fundraising efforts, Martin said.
He said the committee is considering comments made by the Moorhead Council and may alter the “band of brothers’” inscription.
The quote originated from a line in William Shakespeare’s “Henry V,” which reads, “But we in it shall be remembered; we few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.”
Richard Griffin, a retired Fargo patrolman and co-chairman of the memorial’s committee, said although the project needs to surpass some roadblocks, it’s on a path toward completion.
The committee hopes to began construction on the memorial later this month. Committee members want it completed in time for services on Patriot Day, Sept. 11.
“One of the big reasons we’re doing it is the emergency management personnel, we don’t want them forgotten,” Griffin said.
“It’s so people don’t forget what they do. So it doesn’t take a 9/11 to remember what they do,” he said.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Melinda Rogers at (701) 241-5524
Died on duty
Cass and Clay county officers and emergency personnel killed on duty:
Moorhead police
- Officer Peter Poull: date, Oct. 17, 1888; cause of death, gunfire
- Officer Alexander McLean: date, Feb. 17, 1899; cause, structure collapse
- Officer Roy Larson: date, Dec. 6, 1930; cause, gunfire
Dilworth police
- Officer George Washington Bridwell: date, Jan. 9, 1942; cause of death, fall
Hunter (N.D.) Volunteer Ambulance
- Volunteer Jerry Decker: date, Feb. 27, 1992; cause, heart attack
Source: The Officer Down Memorial Page, www.odmp.org