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The RCMP paid tribute Sunday to four of its members who lost their lives in the line of duty.
The National Memorial Service was held at Depot Division in Regina.
Sgt. Donald Forbes died on July 17, 1920, after being thrown from his horse in Battleford. The 12-year veteran was 32 years old at the time of his death.
Const. Leo Tyler Francis was 33 when he died July 5, 1996. The nine-year RCMP member died from the injuries he sustained when he was accidentally crushed between a police car and an RCMP motorhome, in Oromocto, N.B.
Const. Gerald Fortis died at age 32 on Dec. 25, 1997, after seven years on the force. He was killed when he lost control of his police car on an icy road and struck a concrete pillar near Chilliwack, B.C.
Supt. Dennis Edward Massey, a 33-year veteran of the force, died Dec. 18, 2002. The 53-year-old succumbed to injuries he sustained when a tanker truck hit his police car in Calgary.
There now are 243 names on the RCMP Cenotaph, Honour Roll Book and Memorial Wall. The memorial service, held annually on the second Sunday of September, was started in 1935.
“We build close relationships with our brothers and sisters across the country and internationally,” Assistant Commissioner Jasmin Breton, the commanding officer of Depot Division, said in a media release. “These are the people we work with, lean on for support and trust to help us out when the going gets tough.
“This sense of camaraderie is especially difficult when we lose one of our own. This is a time of mourning, but also a time to pay tribute to the memory of our fallen heroes.”
