News-Herald Editorial

Even though he wasn’t “one of our own,” we still mourn the death of North Carolina State Highway Patrol Trooper David Blanton Jr.

The 24 year-old law enforcement officer was shot and killed in the line of duty Tuesday evening during a traffic stop on Interstate 40 in Haywood County. He leaves behind a wife and a child.

His death comes way too early in life….a young man full of hope, full of dreams; all the while just going about a daily task to fulfill what he took an oath to do, “to protect and serve.”

It makes one stop and think of what these brave men and women in the field of law enforcement face each and every day. They have no inkling when they report to duty if they will come home alive…back to family and friends who see these individuals for who they are, not what they are.

While Trooper Blanton wasn’t one of ours, we still feel the stinging pain of his death. We have felt that pain before, too close to home.

Since such records began to be kept, 457 law enforcement officers in North Carolina have lost their lives while on the job. Seven of those once mingled among us, but now are left to our cherished memories.

We salute those seven n Bertie County deputies Dewey L. Swain (July 5, 1968) and Calvin Donald Cherry (Aug. 2, 1979); Gates County Deputy W. Vernon Eason (May 5, 1925); Hertford County Deputy Paul Herman Futrell (Sept. 18, 1992), North Carolina State Highway Patrol Troopers Guy Thomas Davis Jr. (Bertie County n Sept. 2, 1975) and Raymond Earl Worley (Northampton County n May 14, 1985) and Rich Square Police Chief Joseph E. White (July 16, 2000).

Like Blanton, each of the Roanoke-Chowan “seven” died by gunfire.

Like Blanton, they died while performing their professional duties, work that some choose to criticize, but we choose to show our sincere and utmost respect in regards to placing their lives on the line to protect and serve.