4-minute read
The slow trot of a riderless horse as it is led past a row of flags —
Echoes of gunfire from a three shot volley salute in an expansive blue sky —
A hum of bagpipes warming up for the piper who prepares to play “Amazing Grace” —
These sounds, along with the “Roll Call of Heroes” listing the names of local law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty, were all present at the 38th Annual Polk County Peace Officers’ Memorial Service, held on May 7, 2026.
I have grown quite familiar with all of these sounds, as my father’s name, Deputy Sheriff Flight Officer Larry Rhoden, was added to that list on October 22, 2001.
Every year in early May, the families and loved ones of fallen officers gather together at the memorial site tucked away in a serene spot facing Lake Beulah. Dozens of officers, representing multiple law enforcement agencies spanning Polk County, join them to pay respect to those who gave their lives serving their community while wearing a badge.
| Courtesy of Christopher Rhoden
Overdue honors
This year’s ceremony added two new names to that roll call — officers who made that ultimate sacrifice decades ago but had somehow been omitted over the years. This year, that oversight was corrected.
Chief Vance Monroe of the Winter Haven Police Department (WHPD) spoke about Sgt. Luther Thomas Howard, who died in the line of duty on December 15, 1958. A veteran of both World Wars, Howard responded to a domestic dispute involving an intoxicated man threatening his family with a knife. Howard was injured following a struggle to apprehend the subject and was later declared deceased at Winter Haven Hospital. The cause of death was attributed to a heart attack, which has now been recognized as a line-of-duty sustained injury that caused Howard’s death.
Agent Sherman Davis, a member of the Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, was fulfilling his duties as a beverage enforcement agent when he was seriously injured in a vehicle crash on February 1, 1971. Davis was in a coma for several months before a surgery left him in a minimally conscious state until his death on March 11, 1987. Davis was a United States National Guard veteran and had also served with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO).
Family formed by tragedy
The memorial service has become somewhat of a family reunion — a family formed by tragedy, but bound by a sense of love and respect for the purpose that brings us together.
Sisters Tiffany (Smith) Keller and Samantha Smith delivered the keynote address at the 2001 service, when I first met them. The daughters of Frostproof Police Department Officer Johnny Smith, who died in the line of duty on May 9, 1990, attend every year to honor their father. Tiffany was in elementary school and Samantha was only a toddler when their father was taken from them.
“The sacrifice that my dad made… it’s hard to put into words what it means to be able to come and honor him because we will never be able to show enough how much that loved one means to us,” said Keller. “You need to come experience it if you haven’t.”
A hero’s name never fades
In October 2001, my father, along with Deputy Sheriff Pilot Brian Wilkinson, both died in a PCSO helicopter that crashed near Lake Hancock, after returning from a call.
Admittedly, I still get a knot in the pit of my stomach anytime I hear a helicopter soaring above me, but my younger brother doesn’t share that same apprehension.
For the last few years, he has ridden along in one of several law enforcement agency helicopters that perform a fly-over in what’s known as the missing man formation, an aerial salute to the fallen, and my brother’s way of paying homage to our father.
The added years do not bring any solace to the grief and trauma endured by those left behind. However, the support and love from the local law enforcement agencies and the community at large do bring a sense of peace, knowing that our loved ones aren’t forgotten.
“This community is dedicated to ensuring that your hero’s name never fades,” vowed Ricky Newman, chairman of the Polk County Law Enforcement Memorial and a retired detective of the PCSO, at the memorial service on May 7.
In the two and a half decades since that fateful early October morning, I’ve seen that vow made and kept.
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