The Durant Police Department and Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 113 held its annual Law Enforcement Memorial Tribute to honor fallen Bryan County law enforcement officers May 14 at the Choctaw Nation Headquarters Amphitheater.
The event was part of National Police Week.
Retired Calera Police Chief Don Hyde was the speaker, and he said it was an honor to stand before everyone during National Police Week.
“Tonight, before anything else, we pause and honor those officers who paid the ultimate sacrifice,” Hyde said. “Men and women who kissed their families goodbye, put on a uniform, and never made it home.”
Hyde said all law enforcement offi cers know the danger, and they accepted that danger the day they pinned on the badge, but acceptance does not make the loss easier. He said that nationwide, 111 officers lost their lives in the line of duty in 2025.
In Oklahoma, officers have felt that pain too, Hyde said.
“We have buried officers, deputies and troopers who answered the call knowing full well what could happen,” Hyde said. “Our state has always produced tough lawmen and law women, the kind that run toward chaos while everybody else is trying to get away from it.” Hyde said that having served more than 17 years as Calera police chief, he has worked his share of wrecks, domestic calls, funerals, death notifications and long nights wondering if everybody was going home safe.
“I’ve also had enough coffee to probably qualify as a hazardous material,” Hyde said.
He spoke of the importance of mental health of officers and said that coming up in law enforcement years ago, they talked about officer safety.
“But what we did not talk about was what was happening inside us,” Hyde said. “Back then, if you admitted you were struggling mentally or emotionally, people looked at you like you had two heads. The attitude was pretty simple: ‘Suck it up, buttercup.’ We buried stress, trauma, grief and exhaustion under sarcasm, caffeine, dark humor and overtime, and sometimes, alcohol.”
Hyde said something he learned later in his career is that mental health is officer safety.
“We have got to change the culture where asking for help is seen as a weakness,” Hyde said. “It is not weakness. It takes courage to say, ‘I’m not okay.’ I truly believe one of the greatest things leaders can do today is create an environment where officers know they can speak honestly without fear of embarrassment or punishment.”
Hyde said the law enforcement profession needs officers to be healthy. Their families need them healthy and their communities need them healthy.
“So, during this National Police Week, let us honor the fallen by taking care of the living,” Hyde said.
Bryan County Sheriff Joey Tucker recognized the agencies represented: Achille Police, Bennington Police, Bokchito Police, Bryan County Sheriff’s Office, Caddo Police, Calera Police, Choctaw Nation Lighthorse Police, Colbert Police, Durant Police, Department of Fish & Game, Department of Probation & Parole, FBI, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and Southeastern Police.
Bokchito Police Chief Shane Guhl and OHP Capt. Scott Hampton read the names of fallen officers.
Deputy U.S. Marshal Abner David McLellan, 7-20-1894 Bennington City Marshal James Eli Parish, 7-23-1912 Patrolman James A. Keirsey 11-7-1929 Deputy William Conway Keirsey 12-11-1930 Bryan County Sheriff John Ellis Williams 11-4-1938 Bokchito City Marshal Warren N. Smith 11-18-1951 Caddo City Marshal Morgan Haddock 12-13-1951 Bokchito City Marshal Carl Lee “Don” Hart 5-21-1972 OHP Trooper Houston F. “Pappy” Summers 5-26-1978 OHP Trooper Billy Gene Young 5-26-1978 OHP Lt. Pat Grimes 5-261978 OK ABLE Commission Agent Lori Dean Thomas 1023-1994 Bryan County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael D. Pace 12-29-1998 OHP Trooper Nicholas Dees 1-31-2015 Bryan County Sheriff’s Deputy Jarid D. Taylor 1-14-2020 OHP Capt. Jeffery Wade Sewell 9-26-2020 Artificial blue roses were then placed by family members or law enforcement officers in a wreath in the shape of the State of Oklahoma.
