SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The South Bend Police Department said, “It’s never too late to honor a hero,” and we could not agree more after the agency honored a police officer who died in the line of duty more than a century ago.
South Bend Police Officer Fred E. Buhland was killed in the line of duty on the streets of the city in 1921. But when the department’s chaplain sought to visit the graves of all 15 South Bend fallen police officers, one for Buhland could not be found, Yahoo News reported.
However, on the 103rd anniversary of his death, Buhland was honored Wednesday with a grave marker. The South Bend Police Department provided the following details in a press statement:
The South Bend Police Department, South Bend FOP Lodge #36, city officials and members of the community gathered at Highland Cemetery this afternoon for a remembrance 103 years in the making.
Officers unveiled a grave marker for SBPD Patrolman Fred Buhland, who was shot and killed in the line of duty on this day in 1921. For reasons that remain unclear, Ptl. Buhland had been buried in an unmarked grave until today.
Thank you to Patrolman and Chaplain James Burns for organizing this remembrance, to Hanley & Sons Funeral Home for the donation of the grave marker and to Highland Cemetery for helping to arrange today’s service.
“Even though family and friends are no longer around, he still has family and friends on this department,” South Bend Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski said. “Regardless if we knew him or not, which none of us did, he’s still one of us.”
News accounts of Buhland’s death indicate he was shot in the leg and right lung by a drunk and disorderly man who was being taken into custody.
