Buffalo County honors fallen officers in memorial ceremony

KEARNEY, Neb. (KSNB) – Police officers across the country are honored and remembered during National Police Week.

Locally, we attended the 16th annual Nebraska Law Ride, which honors fallen officers, including a few who call central Nebraska home; and the Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office does the same.

On Thursday, they honored Willis Daggett and Night Marshal Orren Eatherton at the 5th annual police memorial ceremony. The end of Daggett’s term was January 1930; he died in a car accident while on his way to serve a warrant. Despite suffering a fractured skull, Daggett climbed out of the ravine and walked half a mile to seek help, but he succumbed to his injuries before help arrived. He worked at the Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office for nine months.

Marshal Orren Eatherton’s term ended in March 1956. He lost his life in a pursuit-related accident and served with the Shelton Police Department for two years.

Buffalo County residents came out to show their love and support to people they have no connection to other than protecting the community they call home. One officer believes that no matter how long it has been since an officer died, it is still important to remember them.

“First, because people who have served their community deserve to be honored and recognized. However, law enforcement memorials or like the national memorial didn’t exist until 1962 and these guys died before that,” said Investigator Harly Amy with the Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office. “So these are kind of retroactively added because they deserve their respect, they deserve to be honored and recognized.”

Before fallen officers were honored, there was no talk of losing their lives in the line of duty; even within the officer’s family.

“It comes from a time when law enforcement officers, and certainly the media, were not as prevalent and so if an officer died in the line of duty, the family took it as he was serving and you just didn’t make a big deal out of it he; and here we are years later, and it’s nice that they now have the opportunity to be recognized for their service,” Sean said. Eatherton, great-grandson of Orren Eatherton.

Sean Eatherton has been a Buffalo County prosecutor for more than 20 years and said the police memorial is meant to recognize what police officers face every day.

“The most important thing is to recognize that every time a man or woman goes to serve our communities, they may not come home, and this is just a good reminder of that and I think my great grandfather would have appreciated this. I know he enjoyed serving the people,” Eatherton said.

For one officer, National Police Week shows how much the community supports those charged with protecting it.

“It’s a very humbling experience,” said Deputy Braydon Finecy of the Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office. “Most importantly, it’s really nice to see the support, not only from our fellow officers and deputies, but also from the community we serve.” Seeing them give back to us by spending weeks like this…it allows us to do what we want to do and maintain our passion for law enforcement.”

Finecy said seeing the community show support for law enforcement means more to them than people can imagine.

The two Buffalo County men along with Grand Island Police Officer Christopher Marcello were also honored earlier this week at a candlelight vigil in Washington, DC.

Click here to subscribe to our daily KSNB Local4 roundup and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.

Copyright 2024 KSNB. All rights reserved.