May 22, 2023
It was a mild, sunny afternoon when Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid hosted a remembrance ceremony in honor of Sgt. Frederick “Butch” Cameron, who died in the line of duty from coronavirus on January 12, 2021. Family, friends and colleagues gathered at the Fairfax County Courthouse courtyard to view a memorial engraved with Sgt. Cameron’s name and to share fond memories of him.
Butch’s wife Michelle, mother Zelma and son Chuckie were among the many family members present for the remembrance ceremony. There were few dry eyes among the crowd.
Butch was admired for his professionalism, innovative thinking, kindness and good-natured demeanor. He was also well-known for being a long-time devoted fan of Washington football, baseball and hockey through seasons good and bad. He was rewarded for the latter two with a Stanley Cup Championship in 2018 and a World Series Championship in 2019.
The special guest speaker for the event was Craig Floyd. He helped form the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, a nonprofit that honors the service and sacrifice of America’s law enforcement officers. Under Floyd’s leadership as CEO, the Memorial was built in Washington, D.C. and dedicated in October 1991.
Floyd retired from the Memorial Fund after 34 years of service and annually makes a pilgrimage to pay his respects to the fallen. During this year’s visit, he stopped at Panel 6W, Line 33 and found Cameron’s name. As visitors often do, he placed a piece of paper on the name and rubbed over it with a colored pencil. At the courtyard ceremony, Floyd presented the etching to Butch’s mom Zelma. 
“As long as those walls stand—long after all of us are gone—the men and women represented by the thousands of names on the Memorial will be remembered and honored as American heroes,” said Floyd. “Their tragic fate was a life cut short, but their just reward is eternal remembrance.”
He cited an inscription on the Memorial: “It is not how these officers died that made them heroes; it is how they lived.”
Floyd’s visit to the Memorial was during National Police Week. “To see the photos of the fallen, the notes left from young children to their mother or father, a shot glass full of whiskey left in toast to a colleague—is a stark reminder that each of those line-of-duty deaths is more than just a name or a statistic. It is about real people—special people—whose loss is felt deeply by the family, friends and colleagues left behind.”
Reflecting on Cameron’s death, Floyd said, “Like many other law enforcement officers nationwide, particularly corrections professionals, Butch’s work [in the Adult Detention Center] put him at great personal risk of being infected with COVID. And sadly, he did contract the disease while on duty, and he died from complications of the disease at the age of 51.”
He continued, “We never thought we would have a year like 2021 when 623 officers would die in the line of duty. We never thought that a single disease would claim the life of some 800 officers over a three-year period. There are now nearly 24,000 names on the National Memorial, and the walls have already been expanded for the thousands of other fallen American heroes—like Butch Cameron—who will die protecting our communities and our nation. It is a richly deserved honor for all who have made the supreme sacrifice.”
In his concluding remarks honoring Sgt. Cameron, Craig cited an ancient Greek saying: “’A man is not dead until he has been forgotten.’ We will never forget Butch Cameron, and we will never forget his family.”
Visitors are welcome at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, which is open 24/7, 365 days of the year. The Memorial is located on E Street between 4th and 5th Streets NW in Washington, DC. (Use 44 E Street NW for navigation.)