Every May, we observe National Police Week and officers that have been killed in the line of duty are honored at the National Peace Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.

I also wanted to give remembrance to those officers from our area.

Records show that 474 officers from Louisiana have been killed in the line of duty.

Records of police officers being killed in the line of duty from the United States were started in 1791. From 1791 to date, some 22,888 known officers have lost their lives while on duty.

Just last month, in Washington, D.C., fallen officers from all over the United States, including Louisiana, were honored at the Law Enforcement Memorial.

I started my career in law enforcement in 1962 and was a deputy for the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office under Sheriff Lloyd Johnson and Sheriff Wayne Jones. I worked very closely with some of the deputies from St. John the Baptist Parish killed in the line of duty.

Honoring the fallen from St. John Parish:

• Deputy Sheriff Jeremy Michael Triche, St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office, EOW: Aug. 16, 2012, Cause: Gunfire

• Deputy Sheriff Brandon Joseph Nielsen, St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office, EOW: Aug. 16, 2012, Cause: Gunfire

• Captain Octavio Rafael Gonzalez, St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office, EOW: June 16, 2006, Cause: Gunfire

• Code Enforcement Officer Edmond J. Songy Jr., St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office, EOW: July 9, 2002, Cause: Vehicular assault

• Deputy Sheriff Barton Joseph Granier, St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office, EOW: Jan. 27, 1996, Cause: Gunfire

• Detective Lieutenant Sherman Ray Walker, St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office, EOW: Nov. 6, 1984, Cause: Gunfire

• Deputy Sheriff Harry Anthony Troxlair Sr., St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office, EOW: Aug. 1, 1969, Cause: Struck by train

• Constable Ignace Rousselle, St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office, EOW: Oct. 20, 1936, Cause: Gunfire

It is always hard to lose an officer in the line of duty, but when you have worked closely and become friends, it’s so much harder.

Because of my career path and losing my fellow officers and friends, I decided that I wanted to honor fallen officers in Louisiana in my museum.

My wife Debbie and I, both having full time law enforcement careers, decided to travel around to other states and look at their memorials for fallen officers.

We went from Washington D.C. to Miami, Florida.

We decided to add The Louisiana Law Enforcement Memorial Center & Museum. Our wall was appropriately named, “Gone But Not Forgotten.”

We are a non-profit museum with the state of Louisiana and worked very hard to make sure that these officers were given the respect that they all deserved.

Our wall contains photographs of the fallen officers and a brief explanation of how the officer died in the line of duty.

However, during the Great Flood of August 2016, our Gone But Not Forgotten Wall was heavily damaged.

We were able to remove some of the photographs and store them until all our repairs are completed.

We are working to restore the memorial and make it even better than it was before the flood. We also had police memorabilia in cases that were flooded, along with other police items that we will try and replace.

We will also have on display handcuffs from the 1800s, cuff and chain that attached to the prisoners’ legs and the ball that they had to drag while wearing it, old photographs and many other police related items.

We have not received any funding for the repairs and have to pay for the repairs as we go. We would like to thank all the volunteers that did provide help after the flood with the removal and packing up of display items in the museum so that the building could be cleaned and rebuilt.

They were a blessing.

Today may be the day that you want to say thank you to our law enforcement officers who protect and serve the public everyday.

We hope to reopen the Louisiana Treasures Museum and the memorial wall in about two months.

Retired Lt. Wayne Norwood can be reached at 225-294-8352.