Family, Friends & Fellow Officers Remember...

"The Badge"

He starts his shift each day
To respond to calls unknown.
He drives a marked patrol car.
A police officer he is known.

He's paid by the citizens' taxes
To make it safe on the streets.
But he usually has a second job
'Cause a waitress has his salary beat.

Now he doesn't know a holiday
'Cause he works all year round.
And when Thanksgiving and Christmas finally arrive
At his home he cannot be found.

He's cursed and assaulted often,
The one whos blood runs blue.
He seldom ever gets a thanks,
To some he's just a fool.

His friends are always other cops
'Cause people just don't understand
That underneath his badge and gun,
He's just another man.

He knows there might not be a tomorrow
In this world of drugs and crime.
And he gets so mad at the court system
'Cause the crooks don't get any time.

And each day when he leaves for work,
He prays to God above.
Please bring me home after my shift
So I can see the ones I love.

But tonight he stops a speeding car,
He's alone down this ole' highway.
It's just a little traffic infraction.
He does it everyday.

Well, he walks up to the driver's window,
And his badge is shining bright.
He asked the guy for a driver's license,
When a shot rang through the night.

Yes, the bullet hit its mark,
Striking the officer in the chest.
But the Department's budget didn't buy
Each officer a bullet-proof vest.

So he lay on the ground bleeding.
His blood wasn't blue - His blood was red.
And briefly he thought of his loved ones
'Cause in a moment the officer was dead.

In the news they told the story
Of how this officer had died.
And some who listened cared less,
But those who loved him cried.

Well, they buried him in uniform
With his badge pinned on his chest.
He even had his revolver,
He died doing his best.

Written By:
David L. Bell
Sergeant
Richland County Sheriff's Department
Columbia, South Carolina
Used with Special Permission of the Author
Copyright © 1999 - All Rights Reserved
and may not be duplicated without permission

Investigator David L Bell
Richland County Sheriff's Dept., Columbia, SC

December 27, 2007

You were highlighted on the website today. Looking at
your picture it is hard to believe that you'd be 48 by now.
I just feel for your parents and wonder how they could
ever get over losing you. And your wife...we lost a deputy back in 2001 in his 20's who had been on the
job five years also and only married 2 years. It is sure
a tragedy that young lives are cut short.
Sometimes you get the bad guy and sometimes he
gets you.
The shot that killed you also killed a part of us.
It killed a part of your family, both at work and at home.
It killed your dreams, your hopes, your future.
But it must not kill our determination to make this
world a better place or our will to make a difference.
America's streets must be running red with blood with
all the deaths of leos. God bless your memory and
know that your life is still impacting others, even those
who didn't know you. I once visited Brevard, N.C. years
ago. With love from one coast of America to the other.
Lynn Kole
Washington State

April 20, 2007

Rest in peace my friend. You are truely missed.

H211
NCSHP

January 13, 2007

i never met Giles my parents were some of his best friends, i just wanted to say God Bless him i hope i can do his scholarship and name proud

Jay Salter-no rank college student
scholarship recipient

September 11, 2006

On the 20th anniversary of your death, we stop to remember.
Your service is not forgotten.

Senior Trooper
Virginia State Police

April 9, 2005

Rest easy with Saint Michael. It sickens me to think that something like this can happen to someone so young and so fine of a Trooper. Watch out over your brothers and sisters as they put on their badges. I believe you and a few others are my husbands 'back up'.

LEO wife

February 21, 2005

Giles, it has been 19 years since you had to leave us. You are remembered on this date of your death. You will always be remembered. Thank you so much for the service you performed for our community.

God Bless the men and women who continue to serve their communities in our great Nation.

...Gone, but never Forgotten....

Marti Ingle (EMT-Paramedic)
Haywood Co EMS (NC)

April 9, 2004

A few weeks before you were killed, I had been shot accidentally (Feb. 26, 1985). I was in the hospital when the tunnel collapsed and caused the traffic problems on the interstate. I had just turned 13 years old when you were killed. I so often related to this series of events that you were always on my mind. Some unknown trooper that I had never heard of before his death became an intergal part of my life.

I have devoted my life to helping others just as you had. I am a firefighter paramedic. I have come to know many many troopers. I have several close friends that I helped get into the Patrol Academy. I have bought each of them the book "Trooper Down". I think it is important for potential cadets to see the lives and deaths of the NCSHP. I hope this helps them get some feeling for the inherent dangers of the job and the respect (by most) that is given to the NCSHP.

There have now been 54 troopers killed in the line of duty. Unfortunately, the last two deaths were Haywood County natives, killed in Haywood County. Both deaths were very similar in nature (being struck by a transfer truck during traffic stops). Both being very good friends of mine and both were wonderful men to know.

I have talked to other troopers about you. I wanted to know the kind of man you were and from what I have been told, you are very much like Calvin and Anthony. I would have been honored to have known you.

I didn't know about this website until after Anthony's death. I would have visited your Officer Down page earlier had I known.

My thoughts and prayers have been with your family since the day you died. I know you are walking the streets of Gold with Calvin and Anthony. I will finally meet you there someday.

A friend you've never met.

(Until I read "Trooper Down" I thought Harmon's Den was named in your memory. I learned differently, but to me it will always be for you.)

Marti (EMT-Paramedic)
Haywood Co EMS (NC)

April 4, 2004

Giles was my roommate and friend in college at ETSU. His life was dedicated to becoming a North Carolina Highway Patrolman. He is greatly missed and will never be forgotten. I often think of him during my tour of duty. I strive to be the best Police Officer I know he would have wanted me to be.

Lt. Bob Wooldridge
Knoxville Police Department
East District Patrol
Knoxville, TN.

Lieutenant Bob Wooldridge
Knoxville Police Department

March 23, 2004

God bless you for your sacrifice.

Anonymous

December 3, 2003

I worked as a Buncombe County Jailer when Giles was a trooper. He inspired me to be a trooper. I opened my acceptance letter the night he was murdered. Such a cowardly and senseless act by a vile man. But Giles was a good Christian and a soft-spoken gentleman, He would not want us to be bitter.

His parents are fine people. Pray for them now, even 18 years later. We thought of him so much in Troop G when I was a trooper.

The Old North State lost one of its best when G-444 was called home 10-42 for the last time on I-40 in Haywood County inm 1985. He now patrols the highways of Heaven with St. Michael.

God bless and be safe.



John Millan, former G-442

Chief JA Millan
NC Public Schools Law Enforcement, Avery Dist