18-Year-Old Creates Memorial Honoring Fallen Officers

A local teenager created a new memorial for five fallen Hendersonville police officers. The granite end-of-watch monument by 18-year-old Cody Vincent-Hohman will sit outside the Hendersonville court building. Video of a dedication ceremony can be found below or on the Hendersonville Police Department Facebook page.

The new monument is the newest way the city of Hendersonville is recognizing its first responders. In September, Mayor Jamie Clary announced that five future streets will be named after local fallen officers: Spencer Bristol, Danny MacClary, Jody Sodek, Richard Bandy, and James Gammons.

"I want to show my appreciation for the sacrifices these officers made while they protected our families," Mayor Clary told FOX 17 at the time. "We need to reserve these names now for future streets."

Additionally, Hendersonville dedicated another memorial to fallen heroes in October on National First Responders Day.

"We humbly dedicate this monument to past, present, and future first responders of our city and county," said Eddie Roberson of the Hendersonville Rotary Club, which raised funds for October's memorial.

The memorial read: "In honor of our valiant first responders from the grateful citizens of Hendersonville."

"Generations to come will come by here and look at this monument," said Terry Ashe, Tennessee Homeland Security Chief of Staff. "I hope when they look at it they don't ask how they died. I hope they ask about how they lived."

Photo: Getty Images