09-05-2025
Fallen Duncan police officer to be inducted into national memorial
DUNCAN, S.C. (WSPA) – An officer with the Duncan Police Department who was killed in the line of duty 86 years ago will be inducted into the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial next week.
On June 23, 1939, Officer Charlie Smith arrested and a drunk man, Duncan Police Chief Greg Satterfield said. Smith even told the man that once he sobered up, he'd get some dinner.
'What Officer Smith didn't know was that Mr. Moore had stowed a shotgun back behind the old coal storage building for the railroad,' explained Satterfield. 'So, he calls Charlie out. Charlie gets out of his patrol vehicle and meets him around the corner of that building where, Mr. Moore shot him in the in the leg.'
Officer Smith died from the gunshot.
Smith's granddaughter, Teresa Proctor, said that while she never got to meet her grandfather, stories of him have prevailed through the generations.
She recalled stories her mother would share with her about her late grandfather.
'Oh, she really loved her father. Her mother died when she was three years old, so she was very close to her father and talked about what a good dad he was,' Proctor said. 'It's an honor that they're recognizing my grandfather after all these years.'
Smith's family members, along with Chief Satterfield and police officers will attend the induction ceremony in Washington, D.C. on May 13.
'We always say 'Whether it's fallen first responders, fallen military, we will never forget.' Therefore, 86 years later, we never forgot Charlie Smith and got his name on the wall to give him the recognition that he deserved,' Satterfield remarked.
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial is, according to their website, 'the nation's monument to law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.'
The ceremony takes place during National Police Week, from May 11 to May 17.
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