Photos of the Day submitted by Ms. Lynda Lively Johnson on January 12, 2015.......Can it really be 38 years ago today? This day….that day 38 years ago when my husband and his partner gave their lives serving the citizens of WV. The pain is still as raw as it was then, but some days it seems a world away….a lifetime ago. It has been awhile since the Dedication Ceremony back in May, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank KC Bohrer, Captain, Berkeley County Sheriffs Dept. West Virginia (retired) and Ron See, First Sergeant West Virginia State Police (retired) for taking on such a gargantuan task of renaming a portion of W.V. Hwy. 522 in honor of my late husband, Trooper Charles Johnson, and his partner and our friend, Trooper First Class Thomas Hercules “The Trooper First Class Thomas Dean Hercules – Trooper Charles Henry Johnson Memorial Highway”. Words just cannot express how deeply touched our children and I are and will always be by this glorious and selfless act of such dedicated law enforcement officers who I’m honored to call my friends. My son, Jeff, and my daughter, Lori, were only 4 and 2 the day their father didn’t come home. Their memories have been very limited by their young ages, although I tried my best to instill in them the wonderful, loving father and husband he was and the courageous man he was in choosing to serve and protect others even at the risk of sacrificing his own life. The father who played with them every night after dinner for a couple of hours before he headed back out to work most times until the wee hours of the morning….back in those days there was no such thing as an 8 hour day. The father who on his days off proudly washed and shined his cruiser with their help and at 2 and 4 it took just a bit longer but we didn’t mind. It was very much a family affair with lots of fun, water and suds. We all expected to get wet…very wet. Their father who proudly and quietly served his community and his state, and ultimately gave his life for others. I don’t believe they felt the full force of it all until we made our first trip back to Berkeley Springs, WV for the Highway Dedication. It was beyond beautiful and touching. KC and Ron, The WV State Police, Law Enforcement Officers both near and far, retired Law Enforcement Officers, WV V Blue Knights International Martinsburg WV, his Commanding Officer, Don Sharp, who I found out still holds himself responsible for sending them out on that fateful call that day, although I did my best to reassure him that was not so…it was like any other call and no one could have guessed what was about to happen, old friends, and the community of Berkeley Springs all wrapped us in their arms and made us feel as though we never ceased being a part of their lives. So many regaled the kids and the grandkids with many, many stories touching, heart-tugging and funny, which for them and for me, built on our old memories and created much-needed new memories. For that I and they will be forever grateful. There are no words to express just how deeply and profoundly we have been blessed by it all. Our only regret….we didn’t have enough time to reach out and thank everyone involved. I see a return visit in the not too distant future where we can join old friends and new, and take in our old home in much more detail. I feel as though those Memorial signs stand as sentries over the community, and I….we…owe them and those who made it all happen another visit at a much slower pace. Once again thank you from the bottom of our hearts, KC and Ron, Don, West Virginia State Police, local Law Enforcement Officers, WV V Blue Knights, dignitaries, the people and community of Berkeley Springs and all those involved in bringing this to fruition, and finally to all those who put in such grueling hours the day of January 12, 1977, their ‘End of Watch’, and the many, many days that followed….those involved know of which I speak. We met a few more of you during the reception. I had never had the opportunity to thank you. We will never forget you for all you did during that time. “The Thin Blue Line: Our police officers stand as the thin line that protects society from good and evil, chaos and order”….and the monsters in the night. Thank you beyond measure for your service and sacrifice.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 19:40:02 +0000
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