An honor for the fallen

Jan. 28—At a farm in central Sampson County, troopers are perched atop meticulously manicured Percheron horses, a casket draped in the American flag in tow, training for a task they hope never to perform.

The scene on the grounds of Hubb's Farm was repeated again and again, as the North Carolina Troopers Association's Caisson Unit practiced for one of the 16 days it gets each year to become reacquainted with the pitch-black draft horses and learn to move as a team. They negotiate every movement to be made, because each one is that important.

The NCTA Caisson Unit is there to perform a particular function: to pay one of the highest and most solemn tributes that can be given. The unit draws its name from the caisson, a wagon whose military origins saw it pull supplies and artillery ammunition onto the battlefield and wounded soldiers off of it. For this unit, the caisson will serve as a transport to the final resting place and mark the "end of watch" for a first responder.

North Carolina's is one of just three Caisson units in the nation, and it covers not only this state, but South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. All 19 current members are active-duty troopers with the N.C. State Highway Patrol, a requirement.

The six Percheron horses are kept at the Goldsboro farm of Bennie Grady, a full-time trooper who helped breathe new life into the unit in 2016. He is their caretaker and his Wayne County property serves as the rallying point before taking the entire caravan an untold number of miles in the service of a fallen first responder.

Troopers with the NCTA's Caisson Unit respond within 24-hour's notice at the request of an agency, often beginning that process before even getting the official call. That request for service must be made by the agency. However, when a first responder falls, the communication between unit members starts via phone and text, preparation already underway in anticipation of the call.

"It takes precedence," said Grady of the services.

There is a protocol that is followed, and it starts at the top for the Caisson Unit, which is a partnership between the North Carolina State Highway Patrol and the North Carolina Troopers Association.

"When a request is made, the colonel (of the state highway patrol) authorizes the assignment," said Grady, who noted that NCHSP's leader Col. Freddy Johnson is a "huge supporter" of the Caisson Unit.

The 19 troopers get time away through their patrol district, but that is just part ot it. They won't leave anyone in a lurch, but there is the matter of ensuring a shift is taken care of, not to mention the fact that family members are being left at the drop of a hat. Depending on the destination, it could be a 4-5 day endeavor.

"It's a sacrifice for everybody," said Jerry Murphy, but one he deemed miniscule compared to the one that has already been made. "Few receive this honor."

Murphy retired from the NCHSP years back, but was part of the Caisson Unit for a year prior to that retirement. While he's with the Sampson County Sheriff's Office now, Murphy still helps "haul the girls" from time to time, assisting the Caison Unit when he can even though he can't be part of the service team.

The unit strives to get at least 10 troopers for a service. At a service for Deputy Austin Aldridge in Spartanburg, S.C., just last year, they were only able to get six troopers, but the show went on.

When the call is received by the Caisson Unit, they will respond that day or the following, depending on when the service is. After some practice, ideally with the local Color Guard involved, the unit is ready.

For this particular unit, they cater to police officers, firefighters, troopers and EMTs killed in the line of duty, as well as various state dignitaries. Since the NCTA Caisson Unit's inception in 2008, they have presided over 111 services. The unit has traveled as far as Knoxville, Tenn., and Valdosta, Ga., located a respective 400 and 500 miles away from Grady's Goldsboro farm.

'Their greatest condition'

On this crisp Tuesday morning at Hubb's, Grady looks on as members of the unit get their bearings on horsetop. This is the first time they have trained in 2023 and Sampson served as a somewhat central location for the unit's members, who live and work everywhere from the mountains to the Outer Banks.

There used to be an extensive application process to be part of the unit, one requiring prospective members to have equestrian experience. That is no longer the case, Grady noted.

"I just want the person; I don't even care if they've seen a horse," said Grady. "I just want a phenomenal person."

He said a few of the troopers own horses or have access to a horse; many others don't. That's where the training comes in. And Grady, in the absence of his fellow troopers, works constantly with the Percherons, ensuring they are the highest quality horse that can adapt to any rider and make them feel comfortable. On this particular morning, he was up at 2 a.m. washing, brushing and grooming each one and tending to every aesthetic to make sure the horses look as emaculate as possible.

"They are Caisson horses. These are the horses that pay the highest honor one can receive. I want everyone to see them in their greatest condition," said Grady.

The horses are kept in the barn during the day and are let out in the pasture at night, an effort to shield them from sunlight that might bleach their coat. These Perchersons must be black.

Of the six horses, five are mares and there is a sole gelding. Nell is the longest tenured of the bunch, with the unit since 2015. Nellie, Ike and Isabel, all out of Wisconsin, also comprise the squad, and half-sisters Peggy and Rosie are the latest additions, added in September 2020 from Missouri. Nell had been ridden previously, but the others had to be saddle broken by Grady.

"The unit hit its hardest time in 2016. I was a full-time trooper and I knew something had to be done with this unit," said Grady. "The horses didn't have a permanent home and I invested in the unit."

The horses found that home with Grady, a trooper since 2002. He built up partnerships, gave presentations to anybody and everybody and slowly built back the foundation. Over the years, a fishing tournament and an oyster roast have also been regularly held to raise funds for the unit and agencies in all five states have been impacted by the unit.

The NCTA's Caisson Unit was further bolstered by state legislators, Grady naming Rep. John Bell and Senator Jim Perry as "driving forces" for the unit. After the governor vetoed a bill in 2019 that would have alloted $25,000 for the unit's operations, Grady was not deterred. A second bill was introduced in 2021 that would allot $250,000 for the unit. Around that time, the Caisson Unit was called upon to honor N.C. House member Dana Bumgarner of Gastonia.

"They actually got to see what we do," said Grady.

The second bill was ultimately increased to $275,000, with legislators tacking on the difference of the vetoed bill, and subsequently passed.

'An honor to do this'

The first team of horses that came to the NCTA Caisson Unit was a foursome of Friesians donated by Jay and Janet Stingel of Arden, NC. The second team of horses came from Arlington — five Percheron/Morgan horses.

"Arlington has been amazing to this unit," said Grady.

The Caisson Platoon at Arlington National Cemetery is part of the Third Infantry Regiment, called the Old Guard, the oldest infantry unit in the United States Army. In total, that unit is comprised of roughly 50 servicemen and women and approximately 60 horses. There are four riding teams. At any given time, two teams can be riding, with each conducting up to four full honor funerals per day, all tasked with the same mission of carrying the remains of a U.S. serviceman to his or her final resting place.

"We're modeled after Arlington and they were vital to our beginnings," Grady attested. "That's why I call them our parent."

There is another Caisson Unit in Texas that caters to law enforcement and does not go beyond the bounds of that state, making North Carolina's unique in that respect. Even so, there are still calls the NCTA Caisson Unit cannot accommodate.

"It is so tough to receive calls from other states requiring our services," said Grady, pointing to those beyond the five-state coverage area, "because we cannot service them."

But that impact is no less felt beyond those bounds.

That is evidenced by the primary feed company out of Kentucky that supplies the unit's Percheron horses with food year-round. After a previous partner of the unit had to stop supplying, they stepped up, citing the impact — even if not physically in the Bluegrass State — that the unit is able to have on families, agencies and countless others.

"They are not even in our territory; that's how much support we get. We're blessed today because we have amazing partners that carry us," said Grady. "That's how we survive. Without partnerships, this would be impossible."

It was back in June 2008 that the Caisson Unit was called upon for the first time to perform a funeral service for Trooper D. Shawn Blanton Jr. They had three horses, as one of the Friesians had passed away. Two were used.

Blanton's name is the first of many who have been memorialized on a trailer utilized and transported state to state by the NCTA's Caisson Unit. There have been dozens upon dozens in the years that have followed.

"Unfortunately, we're running out of room," said Trooper John Smith, a member of the Caisson Unit. "As much as we love this, if I never get a call to go to another funeral, I'd be happy."

A Salemburg native, Smith been based in Sampson for the entirety of his eight-year Highway Patrol career. His mother Beth works at Hubb's, and owners Tammy and John Peterson were more than willing to open up Hubb's grounds for the Caisson Unit.

Grady is thankful for all the support, all of which has been welcome.

"The more people know about the unit, the better," said Grady, who excitedly shares information about the horses, the unit and what they do to onlookers of the morning practice. They surround Grady, learning about the origins of the Caisson Unit, old law enforcement friends arriving occassionally to reunite with Grady.

Robert Rhodes has served with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol since 2013, stationed in Cumberland County. He joined the Caisson Unit in 2016 and plans to stay on it until he retires.

"It's an honor to be able to do this," said Rhodes. "We love to help honor the family; we just hate how we had to get here to do it."

The Caisson Unit was in Sampson County for an April 2021 memorial for Newton Grove police officer Brent Hall, who died in a vehicle wreck just days before his 27th birthday. The Clinton native served with the Clinton Police Department for several years before coming on as an auxiliary officer at Newton Grove in July 2019 and was promoted to full-time a few months later.

Newton Grove residents gathered around the town's busy roundabout on that spring morning two years ago as the Caisson Unit carried Hall's casket, the clip-clopping of the Percherons on the highway serving as the solitary sound to cut the silence. The Caisson Unit traversed the town, uniformed troopers atop those black horses painstakingly groomed at Grady's Goldsboro farm, as other troopers marched at the flank, just as they all had trained.

Members of the Caisson Unit said it was their humble honor to pay that heartfelt tribute to Hall, just as it is with the many others who have been carried to their final resting place.

"Everybody is a regular trooper," said Smith of the NCTA's Caisson Unit. "We're out there patrolling, writing tickets and working the roads. But, in the event of a service, we respond. It's an honor to do that."

Editor Chris Berendt can be reached at 910-592-8137 ext. 2587.