State dedicates memorial for its killed law officers

Secretary of State John Kerry dedicated a memorial Thursday to those who have lost their lives overseas in support of the State Department’s law enforcement and counter-narcotics efforts.

“This is much more than a list of names,” Mr. Kerry said. “It’s a legacy of stories, individual stories, each one with a human face that tells the story of a brave person who served their country in the name of making the rule of law stronger, of making the world a little bit more free from the drugs and the crime and the web of horrors … that threatens the civilized world everywhere.”

The memorial, unveiled last year, honors those who lost their lives while participating in justice, law enforcement, or counter-narcotics efforts overseas run by the department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

Sitting in the lobby of the State Department’s main D.C. offices, it bears the names of 87 individuals who died between 1989 and 2013.

Iraq was the deadline place, where 28 people died, a press release from the department said. 18 people were killed in Peru, 15 in Afghanistan and 15 in Colombia. In addition to the 68 U.S. citizens memorialized, there are also the names of 19 foreign nationals who were aiding American personel.

The State Department said most of those killed were police officers, corrections and security officers, support staff and counter-narcotics pilots and crews.

“As I travel the world today, I’m amazed by the degree to which corruption and crime are stealing opportunity from entire nations and standing in the way of the march of values that we care about and believe in so deeply,” Mr. Kerry said.

“And that should concern every single person because wherever and whenever the rule of law is broken, whenever crime and corruption take root, that is a failure that literally endangers all of us,” he continued. “It is a threat to America and to Americans and to our allies and our friends and partners.”