Published: May 03, 2008 11:38 pm      

TDCJ to honor staff and fallen officers

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice will hold a special memorial service Monday to honor its correctional staff and remember all those who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

The formal, military-style memorial ceremony, which will bring TDCJ officials, employees, dignitaries, guests and the general public to the Texas Prison Museum on state Highway 75 North, will begin at 11:30 a.m.

Held in conjunction with National Correctional Officers Week, the service will include a special tribute to Wynne Unit Officer Susan Canfield, who was killed in the line of duty on Sept. 24, 2007.

According to Michelle Lyons, TDCJ public information director, all TDCJ facilities will host an employee appreciation day culminating in a memorial service held at their individual units.

Traditionally, the memorial services honor those TDCJ officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty in units across the nation.

This year’s ceremony will honor Canfield and eight other correctional employees who died in the line of duty in California, Utah, Indiana, Florida, Tennessee, Missouri and Alabama in 2007.

Highlights of the ceremony will include a 21-gun salute and playing of “Taps,” as well as a special presentation of a riderless horse, symbolizing the loss of a fallen comrade.

Additionally, a memorial wreath will be placed at the center of the museum’s Sesquicentennial Plaza, and attendees will be invited to view the formal “Missing Officer Table,” which follows a formal protocol of placement of symbolic items on a specially prepared table meant to honor those who died while serving in the interest of public safety.

During the ceremony, a tree will be planted in Canfield’s honor in the museum’s living memorial display surrounding the plaza.

Lyons said the 49 TDCJ correctional officers and staff members who have died in the line of duty since 1882 will also be recognized.

Since 1984, the U.S. Congress has designated a week in May as National Correctional Officers Week.