FBI Dallas Honors Fallen Agents in National Police Week Message
Matthew DeSarno, special agent in charge of the Dallas Field Office, and others from the division acknowledge special agents who gave their lives to an adversarial action or in the performance of their duties.
Video Transcript
Good morning. My name is Matthew DeSarno. I’m the special agent in charge of FBI Dallas. I’m joined by my senior leadership team today as we conduct our 2020 Law Enforcement Memorial Service to remember the fallen FBI service martyrs.
The men and women we remember today were dedicated public servants. They were our colleagues and friends. But we shared with them a greater bond – a bond that can never be broken.
This is my second annual memorial service here in Dallas. Last year, we had the opportunity to honor our fallen colleagues and partners during my first week in the office. That was quite a powerful way to be introduced to this outstanding division, and I will always cherish that experience.
This year is also unique. We are forced to find an appropriate way to honor those who gave everything to this job and to the citizens they served. We would certainly prefer a proper ceremony where we could spend time together and greet each other with a handshake or a hug, but under the circumstances, we can at least be together in spirit, and pay our respects virtually.
This year we added Special Agent Nelson B. Klein, Jr., and Electronics Technician William “Homer” Lewis to our Wall of Honor. Special Agent Klein, Jr. was killed in an automobile accident in May 1969, and this year his death was finally determined to be in the line of duty. Sadly, his father, Special Agent Nelson Klein was also killed in the line of duty in 1935. Homer Lewis is the second professional staff employee to be added to the Wall of Honor. Like too many other FBI Employees, he died of cancer that was determined to be a result of his work at the Pentagon after the 9/11 attacks.
I can think of nothing more important than pausing to honor those we’ve lost – these heroes, in the truest sense of the word.
Tennis great and humanitarian Arthur Ashe once said, “True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.”
It’s that urge to serve that marked the men and women we honor today as true heroes.
FBI agents, and all law enforcement officers, work long hours, longer than most people will ever know. They don’t get paid much money. And much of what they do goes on behind the scenes, and is rarely recognized by the public.
So, it takes a very special kind of person to choose a life in law enforcement. You’ve got to really want to help people to make that choice. Because every day, when agents and officers say goodbye to their families, they know there’s a chance that they might not make it home that night.
Each person we honor today recognized that risk and chose to accept it so that countless others would not have to. That’s more than ordinary dedication to the job. That’s more than ordinary service. That’s true heroism.
Each year, we read the rollcall of far too many agents and partners who have paid that “heaviest price.” Whether they left us in the last year or many years ago, these heroes gave their lives in service. Service to the Bureau. Service to their communities. Service to the American people.
For that, we owe them a debt of gratitude that we can never repay.
So, we will continue to come together to remember them each year.
We will read their names.
We will call to mind their faces and their stories.
We will reflect on their sacrifices.
And in doing all of this, we at the Dallas Field Office will renew our own commitment to carrying their legacies forward.
Edwin C. Shanahan
Paul E. Reynolds
Raymond J. Caffrey
W. Carter Baum
Samuel P. Cowley
Herman E. Hollis
Nelson B. Klein
Wimberly W. Baker
Truett E. Rowe
William R. Ramsey
Hubert J. Treacy, Jr.
Joseph J. Brock
J. Brady Murphy
Richard P. Horan
Terry R. Anderson
Douglas M. Price
Anthony Palmisano
Edwin R. Woodriffe
Gregory W. Spinelli
Jack R. Coler
Ronald A. Williams
Johnnie L. Oliver
Charles W. Elmore
J. Robert Porter
Robin L. Ahrens
Jerry Dove
Benjamin P. Grogan
L. Douglas Abram
John L. Bailey
Martha Dixon Martinez
Michael John Miller
William H. Christian, Jr.
Charles Leo Reed
Leonard W. Hatton
Barry Lee Bush
Samuel S. Hicks
Albert L. Ingle
Percy E. Foxworth
Harold Dennis Haberfeld
Richard Blackstone Brown
Lee E. Morrow
Joseph Irel Hart
Billie Wade Taylor
Charles Linson Brown, Jr.
Edward J. Knartzer, Jr.
Sheila Jean Regan
Trenwith S. Basford
Mark A. Kirkland
Robert W. Conners
Charles L. Ellington
Terry Burnett Hereford
Michael James Lynch
James K. McAllister
Scott K. Carey
Stanley Ronquest, Jr.
Paul A. LeVeille
Robert R. Hardesty
Gregory J. Rahoi
Paul H. Wilson
Robert Martin Roth
Sang T. Jun
Paul M. Sorce
Laurie Fournier
Jerry D. Jobe
Daniel L. Knapp
Gerard D. Senatore
William Robert Craig
Christopher W. Lorek
Stephen P. Shaw
Mark Joseph Mikulski
Steven A. Carr
Wesley J. Yoo
Rex Aaron Stockham
Rickey O’Donald
Mark Johnston
Dennis Bonelli
Melissa S. Morrow
David J. LeValley
Brian Lawrence Crews
Throughout the year on the anniversary of the end of watch of our service martyrs, the entire organization receives an email entitled “Remember our Fallen” providing details about the life and death of that hero.
These emails, the interactive Wall of Honor, the memorial services and displays conducted throughout the country, and this ceremony here today are clear indications that honoring our fallen colleagues who have given their lives in service to our Bureau, and our communities is a critical part of our culture.
Honoring our fallen motivates us to make them proud of the organization they gave their life serving.
In addition to the fallen heroes we have honored, we must acknowledge that we have personally experience significant loss this year.
On September 21, 2019, CTOC Specialist Milton “Terry” Sanders died suddenly at home as a result of a cardiac arrest. Terry was a kind, compassionate professional. Terry took pride in his work and loved his family dearly. He was a great cook, and a wonderful story teller. Terry’s colleagues in the Dallas Operations Center, and many around the office, miss him dearly, and we have dedicated the Operations Center in his memory.
On April 25, 2020 Arabic Linguist Dimitri Angelopoulos died in the hospital as a result of complications related to COVID-19. Dimitri served in the Dallas Field Office for 14 years, and he was a wise mentor to many people. Dimitri loved to say he was Greek by Origin, Egyptian by birth, and American by choice. He was a patriot and a proud FBI employee. Dimitri is sorely missed by his friends and colleagues here in Dallas, and his family continues to struggle with both the loss of Dimitri, and the disease itself. Please continue to pray for Dimitri’s family and friends.
Thank you to Lisa Redwine, Zac Ramsey, and Dan Thompson for making this memorial happen.
Finally, a nod to the FBI Agents Association. Thank you for providing the flowers for this ceremony, and to the Dallas Chapter of the society of former Special Agents. Typically, we share this ceremony with you, and you frequently provide a meal for us to share. Hopefully this is the last time we’ll have to do this ceremony like this and next year we will be able to continue our tradition to honoring our fallen together with you at the society.
Thank you for your continued support of FBI Dallas.
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