State police honors fallen troopers with memorial service
Jon Andreassi/Observer-Reporter
Troopers assembled in the parking lot of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 47 for Wednesday’s memorial service.
Courtesy of Pennsylvania State Police
Courtesy of Pennsylvania State Police
An aerial view of the Troop B officers at Wednesday’s memorial.
State troopers gathered last week to honor the 13 officers of Pennsylvania State Police Troop B who have died in the line of duty.
The May memorial service is typically an annual tradition but was not held for the last two years due to COVID-19.
The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 47 hosted Wednesday’s event at its lodge on Valley Road in Eighty Four.
Troop B covers Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland counties.
Capt. Steven Driscoll, commanding officer of Troop B, opened by noting that the state police force was founded in 1905, and since then 102 troopers have been killed on the job.
“Thirteen of them were killed here, in Troop B’s area. We are here today to preserve the memory of their sacrifice and the daily, ongoing sacrifices that their surviving family members have made since the loss,” Driscoll said. “It is important to note that their sacrifice has not been forgotten, and their legacy will be preserved for generations to come.”
The keynote speaker for the memorial was Michael Thatcher, a major in the reserves of the U.S. Marine Corps and Magisterial District Judge in Pleasant Hills.
Thatcher told the stories of the 13 men who have died, beginning with John Williams and Jack Smith, who were both shot and killed on Aug. 22, 1909, while responding to a strike at the Press Steel Car Co. in Pittsburgh.
The last trooper to be killed on the job was Cpl. Joseph Pokorny. Pokorny was shot and killed during a traffic stop on Interstate 279 in Carnegie on Dec. 12, 2005.
“The suspect, who had been on parole for less than a month, shot Cpl. Pokorny after a violent struggle and fled the scene,” Thatcher said.
Thatcher compared the dangers of police work to his own military background, noting that officers are often going into situations with little information.
“As a Marine, loss and sacrifice are not new to me, but there is something markedly different about the law enforcement profession,” Thatcher said. “When I embarked on a combat mission with my Marines, I typically was well aware of the threat to my unit. Police officers encounter such a wide variety of situations and people that it’s nearly impossible to have all the information when you respond to an incident.”