11 names of area law enforcement officers being added to national memorial

The names of 11 Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty will be added Friday to the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.

The eleven names are among 619 names that will be engraved and dedicated on the walls during the 34th Annual Candlelight Vigil, which will be held at 8 p.m. in Washington, D.C.

Fifty-one of those names are of fallen officers from the state of Florida

According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 472 officers were killed in 2021 — the most ever to be added to the memorial in a single year. Of those deaths, 319 of those were COVID-19-related.

An additional 147 officers died in previous years, and their deaths had not been previously documented until the Memorial Fund’s research staff and a team of volunteers confirmed their record of law enforcement service.

With the additional names added this year, there will be 23,229 officers’ names engraved on the memorial.

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Here are the names of the area law enforcement officers that will be added:

• Nassau County Sheriff’s Office Court Bailiff Jack Gwynes, who died after battling COVID-19.
• St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jody Hull, who died after battling COVID-19.
• Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Francisco Celico, who died in 2011.