First and foremost, our sincerest apologies to all our members for not keeping up with our Newsletters.
To say we at Back The Blue NC have been busy would be an understatement. Please bear in mind that everyone on the staff work full-time jobs, and with four officers killed in the line of duty since August, we have been overwhelmed. Those four officers were;
Sergeant Matthew Fishman
Wayne County Sheriff's Department
End of Watch Monday, August 2, 2022
Deputy Sheriff Ned Byrd
Wake County Sheriff's Department
End of Watch Monday, August 11, 2022
Officer Gabriel Torres
Raleigh Police Department
End of Watch Thursday, October 13, 2022
Deputy Jose Angel DeLeon
Warren County Sheriff's Department
End of Watch Sunday, December 4, 2022
The combined amount raised for the children and families of the above four Officers is over $187,000.00 and growing. We could not do that without the support of all of you!
November was a productive month. Thanks to our newest staff member Gary Ushino, our Digital Media Producer, we have just completed our first professional commercial. Tim Hayworth, the father of Officer Ryan Hayworth who was killed on October 17, 2021, was kind enough to be interviewed on camera for a professional TV commercial to help raise awareness and funds for our 10-33 Assistance Program.
Our Back The Blue NC staff also had the opportunity to spend a day with the North Carolina Troopers Association Caisson Unit while they trained. For those unfamiliar with the NCTA Caisson Unit, the Caisson is a horse-drawn military wagon that is used to transport a funeral casket. The Caisson wagon is well known for its use at Arlington National Cemetery where it has carried fallen soldiers and former United States Presidents to their final resting burial. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol Caisson members have been trained by the United States Army "Old Guard" at Arlington National Cemetery and perform funeral missions as requested. We will be working with the NCTA Caisson unit more shortly and will be teaming up to raise funds and awareness for both organizations. BTBNC and the NCTA Caisson Unit see this as a perfect fit as we are both 501C3 non-profit groups and called upon for any line of duty death of law enforcement officers. For more information on the NCTA Caisson Unit, please visit https://www.nctacaisson.org/
As noted above, the latest officer killed in the line of duty here in NC was Deputy Jose Angel DeLeon of the Warren County Sheriff's Department on Sunday, December 4, 2022. As this is the November Newsletter and we are still working with the family, there will be more information on this in next month's Newsletter. In the meantime, please keep Deputy Jose Angel DeLeon, his family, and his friends in your prayers. To donate to the Deputy DeLeon fund visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/benefit-for-the-family-of-deputy-angel-deleon
As we head into the holidays please remember to visit the BTBNC store for your Holiday shopping https://www.backthebluenc.org/shop