[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 14]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 19906]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    TRIBUTE TO OFFICER ARNOLD STRICKLAND, CORPORAL JAMES CRUMP AND 
                        DISPATCHER LESLIE MEALER

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ROBERT B. ADERHOLT

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 25, 2003

  Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, June 7, 2003 the City of 
Fayette, the Fourth Congressional District and the State of Alabama 
lost three public servants in a senseless act of violence. Officer 
Arnold Strickland, Corporal James Crump and Dispatcher Leslie Mealer. 
These men were performing their duties inside the Fayette Police 
Department when they were tragically struck down.
  Arnold Gunther Strickland was a veteran law enforcement officer with 
twenty-three years of experience with other departments in West Alabama 
and nearly three years with the Fayette Police Department.
  James Eddie Crump was a 1994 graduate of the Tuscaloosa Law 
Enforcement Academy and had served in law enforcement for nine years, 
including over six years with the police department in his hometown of 
Hamilton and nearly three years in Fayette.
  Leslie Franklin Mealer, better know as ``Ace,'' had a fifteen year 
association with law enforcement in Fayette County. He served as a 
Reserve Deputy for the Fayette County Sheriff's Department, Reserve 
Officer with the Town of Berry Police Department, Dispatcher for the 
Fayette County Sheriff's Department and Dispatcher for Fayette County 
E-911.
  We live in a world today that puts our police officers in harms way 
each and every day. More and more, these brave men and women find their 
lives at risk. The uneasy feeling that washes over their families as 
they do their jobs is heightened when such a tragedy occurs.
  I wish I could offer some words that would comfort the loved ones 
left behind. Three families have had their hearts broken. Officer 
Arnold Strickland, Corporal James Crump and Dispatcher Ace Mealer were 
assets to their community. They were sons, husbands, fathers and 
friends. They were citizens and Americans who gave back to their 
community and had so much more to offer, so much more to give to make 
the world a better place. They made the ultimate sacrifice and we honor 
them today.
  I am grateful to Officer Strickland, Corporal Crump and Dispatcher 
Mealer for their courage, dedication to duty and the protection they 
provided to the citizens of Fayette. As Fayette Mayor Ray Nelson has 
said, ``These three men gave their ultimate sacrifice, but not in vain. 
They died doing what they loved best, and they gave their best.'' They 
will always be heroes.

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