Honoring
the Fallen
By Patrick McArdle
ITTSFORD — Every year offi cers from around the state
gather in Pittsford to honor police and law enforcement
who have died in the line of duty. This year was no
different, as Gov. Phil Scott and U.S. Attorney Christina Nolan
spoke at the Vermont Police Academy during National Police
Week in May.
A wreath marking the loss of almost 40 law enforcement
offi cers, including three canine units, was decorated with
a fl ower for each offi cer at the Vermont Law Enforcement
Offi cers’ Memorial Ceremony.
The governor said he had “always been in awe of those who
put themselves in harm’s way.”
“When most of us see a threat, our natural instinct is to
run away from it. But our military, fi rst responders and law
enforcement offi cers run towards it. You’re distinguished by
your willingness to sacrifi ce yourself for others,” Scott told
those at the ceremony, who were primarily in law enforcement.
Scott thanked those at the ceremony who were family
members of offi cers who had died in the line of duty. He said
he hadn’t realized at the time how diffi cult it had been for his
mother to raise three boys on her own after his father died
during World War II. Assistant U.S. Attorney Wendy Fuller
understands the loss when a parent dies in the line of duty.
She was at the ceremony with her children and her mother,
Deanna, not in her professional capacity, but to honor her
father, James B. Fuller.
James Fuller, who grew up in West Rutland, was a special
agent with U.S. Customs who died in 1984 when he suffered a
heart attack while on required training.
During the ceremony, an offi cer from the department where
the fallen offi cer was working placed a fl ower on the memorial
P
Robert Layman / Staff Photo
Wendy Fuller, center, of St. Albans, places a fl ower with her family on the memorial wreath for her father
during a ceremony Friday. James Fuller, a special agent for United States Customs, passed away from a
heart attack in 1984 during training.
wreath, but when James Fuller’s name was called, Wendy
Fuller and her children stepped up to place the fl ower.
“It’s a nice recognition of his service. It’s bittersweet,” she said.
Nolan said there was no place she would rather be than at the
memorial service.
“The reason is there’s no higher priority for me, for my
offi ce, than consistent and strong support of law enforcement.
We back blue. And we back the green and the gray, and every
color that I see here today,” she said.
Nolan pointed out that no Vermont offi cers had died in the
line of duty in 2018, but noted four offi cer-involved shootings
in 2019, a “disturbing statistic that underscores how law
enforcement offi cers put their lives on the line every day to
protect their communities.”
“Nationwide, in 2018, we lost 106 brave men and women
in uniform as they performed their public service,” Nolan said.
6 • BARRE-MONTPELIER TIMES ARGUS HOMETOWN HEROES AUGUST 2019