Fallen officers from Chattanooga area honored, including two killed in August helicopter crash

Staff photo by Olivia Ross / Assistant Chief Jerri Sutton reads names as flowers are place in front of the Law Enforcement Memorial. The Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony was held Friday, May 19, 2023 on Market Street, recognizing law enforcement officers who have fallen in the line of duty.
Staff photo by Olivia Ross / Assistant Chief Jerri Sutton reads names as flowers are place in front of the Law Enforcement Memorial. The Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony was held Friday, May 19, 2023 on Market Street, recognizing law enforcement officers who have fallen in the line of duty.

Chattanooga-area law enforcement agencies on Friday honored officers who have died in the line of duty, including two who died in Marion County last year.

The event, held every year during National Police Week, recognized 73 officers from Hamilton and surrounding counties who have died on the job, as far back as 1870.

"They ran towards the danger, into the den of evil and made the ultimate sacrifice," Jonathan Parker, a chaplain with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, said during the ceremony's invocation.

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Marion County Sheriff's Detective Matthew Blansett and Tennessee Highway Patrol Sgt. Harold "Lee" Russell had their names added to the police memorial wall at Sixth and Market streets this week in downtown Chattanooga.

Blansett and Russell died in a helicopter crash over Aetna Mountain on Aug. 23. They had been on an aerial mission when the helicopter struck a power line and crashed.

"The families that have most recently lost loved ones--the Blansetts, the Russells--we thank you," Chattanooga police chaplain Robert Carmenisch said during the ceremony Friday. "Although our thanks don't change the reality of the missing of your loved one."

Blansett was a detective with the Sheriff's Office, commanded the SWAT team, and was an arson investigator during his 20 years with the office, according to his obituary. He also served on the Marion County Commission.

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When Blansett's name was read off the list of fallen officers represented on the memorial wall, his family stood up as a member of the color guard added a red rose to a vase at the base of the memorial.

Russell had served on the Highway Patrol for 12 years and was in its special operations aviation unit, Chattanooga Assistant Chief Jerri Sutton said at Friday's ceremony.

Family members of other officers who lost their lives in the line of duty also attended Friday's ceremony. As Sutton read the names and end-of-watch dates for all 73 officers honored on the memorial wall, several wiped their eyes.

"No matter how long ago or how recent your tragedy has been, we will always be around to protect you," Chattanooga Chief Celeste Murphy told families during the ceremony.

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The family of Lyle Sneed, a Hamilton County Sheriff's deputy who died in 1989, has been coming to memorial ceremonies for more than 30 years. On Friday, three generations of Sneed's family were in attendance.

Sneed, who everyone called "Snake," was killed in a car accident on the way to a fire call, according to his widow, Debbie Syler Sneed.

"I come out of respect for him," she said. "And to try to pass it along to my family."

J.B. Gaskins, CEO of Chattanooga's Blood Assurance and a former law enforcement dispatcher, said during his keynote speech that while the public may think of law enforcement officers as heroes, he doesn't hear officers describe themselves the same way.

"When I talked to them, they said, 'I reacted,'" Gaskins said. "'I didn't really think, I just did what I was trained to do.'"

Gaskins said Blansett and Russell "epitomize the definition of heroism."

Contact Ellen Gerst at egerst@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6319.

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