The Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader tells about three men — one of them an Evansville, Ind., cop — walking in cities from Evansville to Santa Monica, Calif., as part of Relay for a Cause Route 66 “to honor the nearly 19,000 officers across the United States that have given the ultimate sacrifice for our safety.”
The Relay’s Web site gives more information:
Officer Randy Rolley, a twenty-seven-year member of the Evansville Police Department, Bryan Zeller of Zeller’s Master Tire and Ron Boren of Hillard Lyons have started a cause called “Relay for a Cause Route 66”. On May 1st, 2010, Randy, Bryan and Ron will leave Evansville IN. enroute to Santa Monica, CA, via Route 66; they will be walking approximately 5 to 7 hours a day and will be assisted by twenty-five other police agencies across seven states to make up a total distance of 2,250 miles. Randy, Bryan and Ron firmly believe that this is a positive way to bring attention and honor to those officers who have been killed in the line of duty, it is a way to remind our citizens and local governments that their safety and their security often comes with a price, and their subsequent hope is that in working toward a common goal, other agencies and individuals will feel compelled to donate to the cause, with proceeds going to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
The walk will end next week during National Police Week. More on the Springfield walk …
In Springfield, 20 officers and two sergeants joined “Relay for a Cause Route 66” for a five-mile walk. They wore shirts with the names of the six Springfield police officers killed in the line of duty almost 80 years ago.
“Thankfully, the last ones lost were in 1932,” said Mike Evans, president of the Springfield Police Officers Association.
The last time it happened in the Springfield area was a doozy, though. It’s known as the Young Brothers Massacre, in which four Springfield police officers, the sheriff, and a deputy were slain during an ambush and gun battle at a house in nearby Brookline, Mo. According to the Wikipedia entry, it was the worst single killing of police officers during the 20th century.
More details:
The ten police officers and one civilian who went to arrest the Young brothers were by today’s standards woefully unprepared for the job; they carried no weapons other than handguns, and most had no spare ammunition on them. […]
The Young Brothers Massacre was one of the events that persuaded law enforcement in the U.S. to take a more professional and cautious approach to armed standoff situations, particularly those involving persons suspected of previous violence towards police officers. A monument bearing the names of the six slain officers stands today in front of the police headquarters building in Springfield, Missouri.
The two suspects, Harry and Jennings Young, were tracked days later in Houston. After an exchange of gunfire, one Jennings brother was found dead and the other was dying from gunshot wounds. It’s thought that the brothers shot each other as part of a suicide pact when they realized they were cornered, although that’s been disputed by some.
The Green County Sheriff’s Department has more about the massacre here.