Mercer County Deputy Paul Martin Memorial

This fundraising effort is to honor Deputy Paul Martin with a memorial in Mercer County (location yet unknown). The GoFundMe page says Jack Schwab is the beneficiary. Please note that Jack Schwab is the Knights of Columbus representative managing the bank account and funds.

I (Marianne Schmitt) have pledged to walk a mile for every law enforcement line-of-duty death in 2024, and I am asking you to pledge $1.00 for each mile I walk, or more importantly, $1 in memory and honor of each officer for which I walk, with the sum of all pledges to help pay the cost of a memorial to be constructed in Deputy Martin’s honor. To date, 23 officers and three K-9s have died in the line-of-duty in 2024, so I ask you to consider donating $26 at this time. In January of next year, after honoring every line-of-duty death for 2024, I will request the balance of your pledge and hope that you will complete your donation at that time. For reference, in the last four years, there were 129, 177, 202, and 168 law enforcement line-of-duty deaths (not counting Covid-related deaths). In addition, there were 25, 25, 21, and 23 K-9s killed in the same four years. I include the K-9s because, in many cases, the K-9 saved the life of an officer.

If you would rather make your donation at one time, please consider $125, as Deputy Paul Martin was, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, the 125th line-of-duty death in 2023.

I walk for multiple reasons. Primarily, I want to bring attention to the number of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty each year. The founder of the Officer Down Memorial Page, Chris Cosgriff, once said, “When a police officer is killed, it’s not an agency that loses an officer, it’s an entire nation.” We should all be concerned with honoring their memory and recognizing the tremendous sacrifice they and their families have made, and it is important to teach our youth to honor and respect officers as they serve and protect our communities. I do this also to honor Deputy Martin. Following Paul’s tragic death, I felt helpless. Like so many others, I wanted to help in some way but did not know what to do. Now, helping to raise money for a memorial is something I can do to ensure Paul is remembered for his work in our communities and honored for the sacrifice he made to protect others from harm’s way on that fateful night and many times before. I also do this to recognize Running 4 Heroes, which is a program in which a youth runner (ages 9-15) runs a mile carrying the thin blue line flag for each officer killed in the line of duty. Following the run, they send that flag to the officer’s family. The organization also provides a cash grant to officers injured in the line of duty. It was nine-year-old Zechariah who started this project when local police officer Natalie Corona was killed in the line of duty five years ago, and he wanted a way to honor her. He and other youth runners have continued to run for every line-of-duty death since that day. Zechariah ran for Paul on December 12, and when I saw the video of that run, I realized these youth runners understand this is a national tragedy, and they are doing what they can to honor those heroes whom they don’t even know. They understand that it’s not just one family or one community that lost an officer, but the entire nation. I have tremendous admiration for that level of empathy and respect at such a young age, and they inspired me to do something to bring attention to the sacrifice law enforcement officers make every day.

Please follow the FB page “Deputy Paul Martin Memorial” for short videos of me starting each walk by naming the officer for whom I walk. When you see a new video, take a moment of silence to honor that officer and pray for his/her family. You can also follow the Officer Down Memorial Page, which gives additional information about the officers, including the circumstances that caused their death. Also, check out the Running 4 Heroes webpage or FB page. The dedication of their youth runners and the organization’s mission will impress you.

In the event there ends up being more money than is needed for a memorial for Deputy Martin, the excess money will be given to the Mercer County Peace Officers Association to be used for the Cops and Kids Fishing Derby at Harmony Lake in Mercer County, an event Paul participated in annually, as a deputy, father, and grandpa.