RCMP honours fallen officers, including one who died from tick bite in 1968

REGINA – The annual RCMP National Memorial Service has added two new names to a cenotaph in Regina that honours Mounties who died in the line of duty.

The additions of Const. David Wynn and Cpl. George Ronald Hawkins to the memorial, located at the RCMP Academy Depot Division, brings the total number of names to 256 since the creation of the North-West Mounted Police in 1873.

Wynn died from a gunshot would he suffered while attempting to apprehend a suspect in a stolen vehicle investigation in St. Albert, Alta., in January.

Hawkins died in 1968 from encephalitis related to a tick bite he suffered while on duty.

He was tracking a suspect in the Turtle Mountains in southwestern Manitoba at the time.

RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson told employees in a statement on Sunday that the jobs they do for Canadians honours the uniform and the country the fallen members died for.

"Every time you take a criminal off the streets, every time you help a child, every time you help someone feel safe in their home you honour these heroes," Paulson said in the statement.

The tradition to recognize fallen members began in the 1930s, when RCMP gathered in Sleigh Square at Depot Division to honour their dead comrades.

Sunday's ceremony included veterans, cadets and members from across the country and was attended by family and friends of the fallen members.

The names of Wynn and Hawkins have also been inscribed on the RCMP Honour Roll and the Memorial Wall.