It is unlikely that many Virginians know of a gallery of heroes which can be viewed by typing “Woodson Memorial Gallery” into an internet search:
This gallery shows members of the Virginia State Police who have died while helping to protect others and keep the peace. It is located at the State Police Academy in Chesterfield County.
The gallery dates to 1943, when the superintendent of state police, Col. C.W. Woodson Jr., along with G. Watson James Jr. of the Division of Motor Vehicles, agreed that the state should recognize troopers who had died in the line of duty. It was later named in Woodson’s memory. The first portraits were donated, as no funds were available.
The first individual in this gallery lost his life nearly a century ago: Inspector W. Neville Hatcher died in 1928 from injuries received while attempting to arrest a murder suspect in Culpeper County.
The most recent is J. Gregory Blankenship, who died in 2021 of complications following a lengthy battle with COVID-19.
As w...