“Aug. 28, 2015, is a day I will never forget. As a new captain I was on my way to troop headquarters, it was a beautiful day — I thought,” said Missouri State Highway Patrol Field Operations Major Mike Turner, “I heard Trooper James Bava as 162 come over the radio and say he had just checked a motorcycle in excess of 100 mph — a short time later he wasn’t responding to any radio calls, we had lost contact with him. As a result, our worst fears had come true, James had succumbed to his injuries in a car wreck that morning.”
Turner addressed MSHP officers, workers from the Missouri Department of Transportation, as well as many other law enforcement agencies in attendance at a luncheon and memorial dedication ceremony for MSHP Troop E, at the Fellowship General Baptist Church in Poplar Bluff Tuesday. The memorial ceremony and luncheon was to honor the memory of those in Troop E lost in the line of duty.
Alyce Bava, mother of fallen Trooper James Bava, gave a touching speech. She began with a statement written by Missouri State Highway Patrol Col. Hugh Wagner in 1945 which said, when a man enters into a career as a police officer he is well aware of the risk he must take to efficiently perform his duties, we have never felt that we were entitled to any special consideration because of our profession.
“Each of these noble and humble men, Trooper John Greim, Sgt. Randy Sullivan, Sgt. David May and Sgt. Robert Williams forever stand as heroic reminders of just what the risks are of this high calling,” said Bava.
“These men also represent all of the men and women who have served and continue to serve this great state of Missouri, our own son Trooper James Bava, was the last trooper to join the ranks of the fallen in 2015. The high costs of this profession are immeasurable and unmatchable,” she continued.
Bava spoke on Sgt. Sullivan, Sgt. May and Sgt. Williams.
Sgt. Sullivan was “a man of devotion who lived it every waking moment of every day,” she said, as well as a faithful Christian. He died Feb. 17, 1996, leaving behind his wife Brenda, and three young sons, Brandon, Caleb and Justin.
Bava quoted the late Sgt. John Sampietro when describing Sgt. May as “polite and professional, yet...also funny and laid back, but when it was time he took his job seriously and got the work done.”
May 17, 1999, David left behind his wife Linda, and two young daughters, Krista and Tara Lynn. Sgt. Sampietro died six years later while working in another Troop.
Sgt. Williams was described by Trooper Freddy Butler Jr. as a conscientious family man “who was spiritual and hospitable to the whole zone,” and never considered himself above service calls. Bava told guests he fell on Feb.16, 2001, leaving behind his wife Paula and young children Ashton and Justin.
Trooper Greim was the only killed outside the living memory of his colleagues. He died in plane crash July 13, 1945. “Four young widows and eight young children had to wake up the next day without their husband by their side, or a father to care and love and protect them. Mothers and fathers, siblings and co-workers who lost their son, their brother, their friend, and grandchildren who have or will grow up never knowing their grandfather. The grief is continual and the losses are multiple,” she said.
Bava believes living in faith is the only way to someday understand tragedies in this life or the next. She recounted Sgt. May’s final lesson for his sons: “Don’t always look for reasons why in all situations and don’t look to lay the blame for every adversity that life deals us.”
Sgt. David Markham, who came on patrol in 1978, also addressed the crowd and was recognized as an integral part of the organization of the ceremony by MSHP Captain Phil Gregory. Markham praised another co-worker who helped pull the event together. “He put in many hours on this, a copious amount of hours, if it wasn’t for Lieutenant (Mitchell) Heath we wouldn’t be standing here, it’s a privilege knowing him, working with him and being a friend.”
Bava in closing said the qualities displayed in the fallen troopers “could describe any and all Missouri Troopers past, present, and future,” And their influence did not end with their deaths.
“They continue to make a difference as we remember their life and what they stood for. They lived faithful lives as servants of God here on earth restraining evil. They died as heroes, leaving us an example of all things good and honorable,” she said.