For the past few months, I have enjoyed writing articles about various topics and the collections that I have put into a museum. I have been told by so many of the readers that they have also enjoyed the articles and look forward to what I will write about next. Well, this week I would like to tell you about a project that is near to my heart and ask for your help in the process.

When I built the Louisiana Treasures Museum, I made a decision to dedicate a memorial wall to police officers killed in the line of duty in Louisiana. The memorial wall, proudly named the “Gone

But Not Forgotten Wall,” is to honor these fallen officers. Having been

in law enforcement all my life and with a family history of police

officers, I felt that when an officer

is killed in the line of duty, they have given the ultimate sacrifice

for a career that they felt strongly about. We all know that they didn’t get into law enforcement for the

pay or gratitude. My wife, also a retired police

lieutenant, and I feel that not enough is done to honor these officers that have been killed in the line of duty.

Records dating as far back as 1883 show 404 police officers have been killed in the line of duty in Louisiana to date. While planning this memorial we visited memorials from Florida to Washington, D.C., from the North to the South. We found that most of the memorials only have a name tag on the wall, no photographs or facts about the death of the officer. We did not feel that this was enough for an officer that gave his/her life defending us. On our memorial wall, we have a 5-by-7 photograph of the officer and also a description of the incident that took this officer’s life, along with the agency name, length of service and family info.

Now, we need your help. Out of

the 404 officers that have been

killed in the line of duty, I only

have about 100 photographs on

this wall. As you can tell, the problem is getting photographs of the officers that have been killed.

With the support of the fallen

officer’s agencies, I have obtained photographs of all the officers

that were with the Louisiana State Police, St, John Parish Sheriff’s Office, Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office and Louisiana Department

of Wildlife and Fisheries. If you know of an officer that has been killed in the line of duty and have

a photograph, please contact me

so that we can get this officer on

the memorial wall. The incident information has already been

placed on the wall; we need photographs.

We now have a lot of new people that have moved into the Laplace area that may have or know someone that can help us with this project. Please give me a call at 225-294-2863. I receive no funding for this memorial and operate the museum on the $3 dollar admission charge to pay the utilities.

Anyone wishing to donate any police-related items to the memorial, please give us a call. Remember, shake a hand and say thank you to the officers that you might pass along the way. Louisiana Treasures Museum & Memorial Center is located on Highway 22 West of Ponchatoula. For more information call 225-294-8352 or hours of operation.

Wayne Norwood is a lieutenant with the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Department and owner and operator of the Louisiana Treasures Museum located at 10290 Highway 22, West Pontchatoula.