Adopting Marion Marshall

This is National Police Week, proclaimed such by President John F. Kennedy in 1961. Monday was the dedication of the Nebraska Law Enforcement Memorial, a beautiful tribute to the 130 Nebraska law officers who have died in the line of duty. It was a splendid day. Several chiefs, sheriffs, and other officials were called forward to take turns reading the roll of our fallen officers. I was asked to read the names of the five Lincoln police officers killed in the line of duty, and one more: Marion Marshall.

I had never heard of Marion Marshall. I did not know that his name was inscribed on the National Law Enforcement Memorial, and now on the Nebraska Law Enforcement Memorial. The few tantalizing details from the Nebraska Memorial’s biography sent me on a Tuesday quest to find Marion Marshall.

Special Duty Patrolman Marshall’s employment was something of a mystery. I had never seen that job title in all the records of the Lincoln Police Department. Marion Marshall does not appear in any of our rosters. A lunchtime trip to Bennett Martin Public Library solved this mystery of history.

According to the Lincoln Evening Journal accounts, Special Duty Patrolman Marshall was shot in his army uniform. I think they got that part wrong. I don’t think Marion F. Marshall would ever be seen in an “army uniform.” He was a Marine, a veteran of the Great War. After being laid off from his job at the Lincoln Telephone & Telegraph Company in 1931, he had been employed in a quasi-public law enforcement job. He was one of 20 special duty patrolmen sponsored by The Charles A. Farley post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The post organized neighborhood patrols by veterans beginning in 1919. These men patrolled beats in their military uniforms. They were paid by the proceeds of residents who subscribed to the service. His family of five was scraping by on the $80 to $90 a month this work brought in.

Shortly after midnight on September 7, 1932 Special Duty Patrolman Marshall observed a suspicious person on a bicycle in the alley west of S. 16th Street between G and H Streets. He drove around the block to investigate, encountering the subject at the alley exit on 15th Street. During the contact, the subject pulled a gun and shot Marion Marshall. The mortally wounded patrolman managed to crawl to the Governor's Mansion, rang the bell, then collapsed on the top step of the porch. He was found there by Governor Charles Bryan, who had pulled on his clothes and gone to the door. The Governor summoned authorities and Special Duty Patrolman Marshall was taken to the hospital, where he passed away two days later, at the age of 35. He was survived by his wife and three children.

Marion Marshall is caught in limbo. He is a patrolman without a department. The Charles A. Farley post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars ceased to exist years ago. Although he was not a Lincoln police officer, he was similar to what we might now think of as a reserve or auxiliary officer. He was clearly acting in the public benefit when he encountered Tom Hall in the shadow of the spanking-new Nebraska State Capitol, armed with a concealed .32 caliber revolver, on his way to hold up the Capital Hotel in downtown Lincoln.

Today at noon, we will host a ceremony on the steps of Lincoln’s Hall of Justice and Law Enforcement Center to honor the Lincoln police officers who have given their lives in service to their fellow citizens. Ceremonies of this type will be taking place this week throughout the United States, at courthouses, State houses, and police departments. Speeches will be delivered, salutes rendered; taps will be played, the roll will be read.

No one has been reading the name of Special Duty Patrolman Marion Francis Marshall.

Until now.

The women and men of the Lincoln Police Department are adopting Marion Marshall. We will remember him, and we will honor the sacrifice he made on behalf of his City, State, and country. He is now added our roll call of honored dead, and this afternoon I will read his name.