OCEAN COUNTY – Sergeant Matthew Horton of the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office, who passed away last month after battling COVID-19, was honored by the global nonprofit Point 27.
To honor Horton, the Virginia-based organization sent gifts of scripture-inscribed Thin Blue Line Shields of Strength dog-tag necklaces to the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office for his partner and the deputies serving closely with him, and a scripture-inscribed Folded Flag Necklace and a Forever Grateful Military Challenge Coin for his wife.
“It is tragic that this officer and his family sacrificed so much,” US Army (Ret.) Col. David Dodd said. “We salute his courageous and selfless commitment to service and sacrifice.”
Point 27 has gifted more than 510,000 Shields of Strength to members of the military, more than 220,000 to law enforcement officers, and 29,000 Folded Flag Pendant Necklaces to bereaved families of fallen members of the military and law enforcement since 2014.
“Since 2018, the numbers and nature of reported line-of-duty deaths have made alarming turns. Not only have the line-of-duty deaths increased dramatically, especially last year and this year with the border crisis and the number of COVID-19 officer deaths; but the radical turn in some communities against law enforcement has magnified the need for encouraging law enforcement officers and their families, who are risking and facing so much,” Dodd said.
Thin Blue Line Shields of Strength is designed with an engraved silver American flag face designed with one flag stripe of blue. Chosen by law enforcement officers, the back of the dog tags is inscribed with Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
The Folded Flag Pendant necklaces are engraved with John 15:13; “Greater love has no one than this; to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
