Fallen officers

Once a year, the law enforcement community gathers to honor lawmen who have died in the line of duty. Missouri's newest fallen officer is Dewayne Graham Jr., a highway patrolman gunned down in front of his house in Van Buren, Mo., as he arrived home from work.

Graham was one of the officers remembered last week in a solemn, well-attended memorial service at Cape Girardeau County Park North.

Since the first recorded death of an officer in 1794, more than 14,000 police officers have died in the line of duty in the United States. During the 1990s, one police officer died in the U.S. every 58 hours. Well over half of those killed are shot to death by criminals.

As officers honor their own, the rest of us could take a moment to say a prayer for these men and women who risk their lives daily to keep us safe.