PHOENIX — Six decades later, Phoenix Patrol Sergeant Vince Cole is helping to right a wrong for Candace Ramsey's late grandfather who was killed in the line of duty.
According to a Phoenix police press release, Sgt. Cole met Candace while taking a crime report and noticed a framed Navajo Nation Police Patch that caught his attention.
"As Sgt. Cole asked Candace about the patch, she beamed with pride for the man who wore that patch. Her grandfather Gordon James was a Sergeant with the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety more than 60 years ago. She shared that her grandfather was killed in the line of duty," Phoenix police said in the release.
Candace's grandfather, who was a Korean War veteran before he joined the Navajo Nation Public Safety as a police officer, was killed in 1960 by a drunk driver, according to Phoenix police.
Sgt. Cole, a member of the Phoenix Police Honor Guard, asked if Candace had ever seen her grandfather's name on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., but Candace said his name is not on the wall.
That was when Sgt. Cole decided to take matters into his own hands, and reached out to the memorial foundation.
"After six months of work, on January 29, 2020, the Foundation informed Candace and her family that Sgt. Gordon C. James would be added to the memorial wall in D.C. on May 13, 2020 during the Annual Candlelight Vigil."
Such a great way to honor a hero.
Police Sergeant rights a wrong 60 years later. Learn how chance meeting united two law enforcement families together so one man’s heroic actions will never be forgotten. https://t.co/odHLoxqAkH pic.twitter.com/S9ZktcMwWN
— Phoenix Police Department (@phoenixpolice) February 20, 2020
