05.11.07
DIEHL-ROBBINS SUCCESSFULLY LED EFFORT TO HONOR FALLEN ALASKAN HERO AT THE NATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT MEMORIAL
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Lisa Murkowski today recognized Anchorage Police Community Service Officer Cathy Diehl-Robbins for her successful efforts to honor a fellow officer who died from injuries sustained in the line of duty more than 50 years ago. Officer Diehl-Robbins is a 29 year veteran of the Anchorage Police Department who first took up the challenge of chronicling the department’s history on her own time.
On June 9, 1953, Anchorage Police Officer William G. Pfalmer, Jr., was shot and paralyzed while stopping a stolen vehicle. Sadly, in 1970, he passed away as a result of his wounds he suffered 17 years earlier. This Sunday, May 13th, fallen Officer Pfalmer will be honored in the Nation’s Capital as his name is added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.
At Senator Murkowski’s request, Officer Diehl-Robbins has been invited by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund to read the name of Officer Pfalmer at a candlelight ceremony honoring the 383 fallen law enforcement officers whose names have recently been added to the memorial wall. The annual candlelight ceremony on Judiciary Square in Washington, D.C. draws upwards of 20,000 law enforcement officers and their families. One of Officer Pfalmer’s three son’s Garry Pfalmer and grandson Michael Pfalmer, both of Fairbanks, will also be on hand for the ceremony.
“Because of the tireless efforts and perseverance of Officer Diehl-Robbins, an Alaskan hero will finally receive the honor he has earned,” said Senator Murkowski. “Officer Pfalmer was a dedicated public servant who paid the ultimate sacrifice for upholding his oath to protect and serve. I thank Officer Diehl-Robbins for her commitment to her fellow officers and offer my gratitude to the family of Officer Pfalmer for his service to the city of Anchorage.”
For more than twenty years, Officer Diehl-Robbins has researched the history of the Anchorage Police Department. Roughly ten years ago, she came across an article about an officer who was shot and paralyzed. That officer was Officer Pfalmer. From that point forward, Officer Diehl-Robbins began actively researching the case and initiated a successful effort to have Officer Pfalmer be honored by the Anchorage Police Department, State of Alaska and at the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C.
This dedication takes place during National Police Week, which runs this year from May 13-19. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy designated May 15th as National Peace Officers Memorial Day, and the calendar week in which May 15th falls as National Police Week. Today, there are 17,917 federal, state and local law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty and whose names are engraved on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. Officer Pfalmer will become the 43rd Alaskan to be honored on the Memorial.
Editor’s Note: Additional information about the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and the May 13 Candlelight Vigil can be found at http://www.nleomf.com/media/. The media contact at the National Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial Fund is Kevin Morison, 202-737-7134, kevin@nleomf.com.
