‘The loss does not diminish’: SC designates day for emergency responders killed in line of duty

COLUMBIA — After Memorial Day commemorates those who died in military service, families of emergency responders killed in the line of duty will have their own day of remembrance starting this year.

A new law designates June 1 as Gold Shield Day in South Carolina to honor the lives of police officers, firefighters and paramedics killed on the job. Gov. Henry McMaster signed the measure into law May 15 after both chambers passed it unanimously.

The day is meant to recognize the sacrifices made by emergency responders and the family members who must live with their losses, supporters said.

The law does not create a state holiday. Rather, it encourages state agencies, local governments, and public schools to honor Gold Shield Day “through appropriate ceremonies, proclamations, or educational activities.”

After 24-year-old Greenville County Sheriff’s Deputy Drew Mazur was fatally shot during a routine stop on Aug. 17, 2003, community members rallied around his wife, Bryce Copeland Mazur, she told senators earlier this year.

“But as the weeks passed, that support began to fade, not because people didn’t care but because life goes on,” Mazur said. “As human beings, we often forget what we aren’t reminded to remember.”

Mazur and families of other deceased first responders remember the people they’ve lost every day, she said. But setting aside a date to commemorate those losses can ensure their communities are thinking about those sacrifices as well, she said.

“A designated day of remembrance supports families who carry this loss for the rest of their lives,” Mazur said. “It does not make the pain disappear, but it does help bear some of that burden with us.”

Sen. Michael Gambrell understood, he told Mazur. During his 18 years as chief of the county’s volunteer fire department, Gambrell went to three firefighters’ funerals, he said.

“It never leaves you,” Gambrell said. “It never goes away.”

A death in the line of duty can shock a community, but people often forget about the people officers leave behind, said Lt. Dave Weiner, who leads the Greenville County Sheriff’s Department’s bomb squad.

Weiner was friends with Drew Mazur when he died. He also watched 17 years later as fellow Greenville deputy Sgt. Conley Jumper died in October 2020, after a suspect stopped along Interstate 85 accelerated and dragged him into traffic. The vehicle was ultimately struck twice, according to Greenville County’s law enforcement memorial webpage, which lists 45 officers killed as far back as 1797.

Weiner stayed in touch with Mazur’s and Juper’s families long after attention faded, he said.

“What becomes clear is this: The loss does not diminish, but the visibility does,” Weiner said.

Although a state day of recognition does little to lessen the burden families carry with them, it can increase that visibility, which can in turn help a grieving family, he said.

The designated day “doesn’t try to explain” a person’s death, Weiner said. “It doesn’t try to soften it. It simply recognizes that these families remain part of the service and that their sacrifice does not expire with time.”

“From my experience, that kind of recognition matters,” Weiner added.

Upstate Warrior Solution, a Greenville-based nonprofit that helps veterans, plans to schedule events for Gold Shield Day similar to those it holds on Memorial Day, said Theresa Thompson, the group’s chief operating officer.

The law gives families who have lost a loved one in the line of duty “what they deserve,” said Thompson, a former Greenville Police Department officer.

“And they deserve a name and a day that recognizes honor, sacrifice, courage and lifelong service,” Thompson said.