BROOKSVILLE — When a member of Hernando County’s law enforcement family dies in the line of duty, it leaves a gap.
For their families, it’s an empty chair at the Sunday dinner. For the community, it’s the loss of a protector who ran toward danger, not away from it.
On Monday, May 4, Sheriff Al Nienhuis joined local dignitaries, retired police officers and residents to honor the Hernando County deputies who died serving the community — and to assure their families those sacrifices have not been forgotten.
“We’re here because we have a debt that we can never truly repay, and one that we can never stop acknowledging,” Nienhuis said.
These memorials leave a hole in the community’s heart, the sheriff said, and remain painful for the families, friends and colleagues left behind.
“To the outside world, they were heroes because of how they died,” Nienhuis said. “But to us, and to you, the families, they were heroes because of how they lived.”
They chose service over self, he added, and duty over ease.
One by one, the names were called. Families or members of an honor guard stepped forward, and a rose was placed in a wreath for each fallen deputy.
Among those in the crowd was Lilly Salagan, 6, a Cub Scout who came with her mother, Pamela Arnold, after Arnold saw a notice about the event on the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page. The girl saluted during the ceremony.
“I’m a Lion in 8681,” she said. That’s her Cub Scout pack.
“We saw it on Facebook, and I thought, ‘We need to go,’” Arnold said. “So we came.”
NYPD contingent
About 150 retired New York City Police Department officers live in Hernando County, and several attended the ceremony.
Former NYPD officers Roy Zinkiewicz and Artie Babcock, members of the “10-13 Club,” drove to the event in a four-door sedan outfitted to resemble an NYPD cruiser.
In New York, “10-13” is the radio code for an officer who needs help, Babcock said.
The pair bought the car for $1 from the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office and received permission to apply NYPD-style decals. They cannot use it for law enforcement, but they can run the lights at cemeteries, parades and memorial services.
Babcock retired from narcotics in 1988.
Retired NYPD officers Jerry DeCanio, Kevin Balogh, Joe Wolff, Floyd Lee, Jerry Maley and Vinny Davis served as the honor guard. Their uniforms carry decorations earned across decades of policing in New York City and Florida.
Get a group of them together, and the stories start, including those from 9/11 and its aftermath.
Remembering sacrifices
County Commission Chairman Jerry Campbell said the ceremony was a chance to honor those who gave everything for their community.
“To protect and serve. That’s what they swear to do,” he said. “Sometimes, unfortunately they don’t come home.”
Many of the New York officers in attendance lived through 9/11, Campbell noted, and carry stories worth hearing.
The heroes
As long as there is a Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, the fallen will not be forgotten, Nienhuis said.
“They didn’t go to work on that final day looking for glory,” Nienhuis said. “They went to work because they believed in Hernando County. They believed that this community was worth protecting, even at the cost of everything.”
He closed: “We speak their names with pride; we remember their service with humility.”