Buncombe County First Responders Killed In Line of Duty, Asheville
The monument consists of a very large unfinished granite boulder, roughly shaped like a pyramid and weighing eight tons. The names of all Buncombe County first responders who died in the line of duty are inscribed on individual bronze placards with their date of death. Several names have been added since the dedication in 2009.
Dedication Plaque: DEDICATED TO THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR / LIVES SERVING AND PROTECTING
THE / PEOPLE OF BUNCOMBE COUNTY /
Five columns of placards left to right
Column one: CHIEF HAROLD ENLOE / ASHEVILLE POLICE
DEPARTMENT / 11/24/1925 / DEPUTY ERVIN PENLAND / BUNCOMBE COUNTY SHERIFF’S
OFFICE / 3/18/1974 / SAMMIE J. WADDELL / SWANNONOA FIRE AND RESCUE / 2/28/1989
Column two: OFFFICER JAMES BAILEY / ASHEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT / 11/13/1906 /
DEPUTY EMORY HENSLEY / BUNCOMBE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE / 6/10/1924 / DEPUTY LOUIS
MCKINNEY / BUNCOMBE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE / 5/27/1960 / SERGENT W.D. ARLEDGE /
NORTH CAROLINA HIGHWAY PATROL / 10/15/1974 / SERGENT JEFF HEWITT / BUNCOMBE
COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE / 4/14/2014
Column three: OFFICER CHARLES BLACKSTOCK / ASHEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT / 11/13/1906
/ OFFICER MAJOR WORLEY / ASHEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT / 10/07/1933 / CHARLES G.
WERHAN / ASHEVILLE FIRE AND RESCUE / 12/09/1963 / PATROLMAN L. CANIPE, JR. / NORTH
CAROLINA HIGHWAY PATROL / 10/15/1974 / CAPTAIN JEFF BOWEN / ASHEVILLE POLICE
DEPARTMENT / 7/28/2001
Column four: OFFICER EDWARD MCCONNELL / ASHEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT / 7/07/1911 /
PATROLMAN G.C. PENN / NORTH CAROLINA HIGHWAY PATROL / 8/22/1937 / DEPUTY PERRY
DAVIS / BUNCOMBE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE / 4/03/1965 / JIMMIE R. TRENT / ASHEVILLE
FIRE AND RESCUE / 11/03/1975 / ROBERT A. BINGAMAN / ASHEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT /
10/29/2013
Column five: OFFICER ALFRED BAIRD / ASHEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT / 4/16/1972 /
RAYMOND J. FLOWERS / ASHEVILLE FIRE AND RESCUE / 5/26/1912
April 4, 2009
35.596260 , -82.548770
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"Buncombe County Court House, Asheville, N.C." in Durwood Barbour Collection of North Carolina Postcards (P077), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill. Link
Sandford, Jason. “Memorial To Fallen Police, Fire Officials Dedicated in Asheville,” Ashvegas.com, April 5, 2009, (accessed January 22, 2016) Link
“Capt. Bowen’s Named [sic] Added To Buncombe County Memorial,” Asheville City Source, June 2, 2014, (accessed January 22, 2016) Link
“Fallen Asheville Firefighter Honored With Name On Memorial,” WNEM.com, June 26, 2014, (accessed February 16, 2016) Link
Yes
Granite, bronze
Buncombe County District Attorney Ron Moore, police and fire officials, with assistance from the Patriot Guard Riders participated in the dedication ceremony. It was held on the fifth anniversary of the death of Jeff Hewitt, a Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department deputy shot and killed while trying to serve papers on a suspect. The playing of Taps and the firing of three rifle volleys ended the solemn event.
The memorial is located by the Buncombe County Courthouse, at College Street (Hwy 74-ALT) and Court Plaza, Asheville. In the immediate area of the old Buncombe County Courthouse there are other notable plaques, monuments and memorials: Western North Carolina Veterans Memorial, 60th North Carolina Regiment, Revolutionary War, Spanish American War, Medal of Honor recipient Lt. Colonel Robert Morgan and former Governor Samuel Ashe for whom Asheville was named. Several hundred yards to the west stands the monument to Zebulon Vance and several other small markers.
The marker stands on the grass between a paved sidewalk and Hwy 74-ALT.
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