Published: August 23, 2008 05:35 pm      

Former officer honored

Kyle — Family members, community leaders and colleagues gathered Saturday to honor a fallen member of the San Marcos Police Department.

Former San Marcos Police Officer Rudy Mesa, who was killed while on duty in Iraq in 2006, was honored by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs and DynCorp International.

A special address and a plaque were presented to Velia Mesa, widow of Officer Mesa, by Bill Brencick, director of the Office of Iraq Program. Richard Cashon, vice president-Law Enforcement of DynCorp International, presented a posthumous Valor Award to Mesa for her husband as well.

Officer Phil Jackson, a former co-worker of Rudy Mesa and vice president of the San Marcos Police Officers Association, announced an endowment for the Rudy Mesa Memorial Endowed Scholarship at Texas State University-San Marcos.

Mesa, a veteran of 12 years with the San Marcos Police Department, retired in March 2006 to serve as a police trainer in Iraq with DynCorp International, a company training Iraqi police officers under contract to the U.S. Department of State. He was in Iraq just over a month when he was killed by a roadside bomb near Rustamiyah, Iraq, on May 8, 2006 at the age of 56.

Mayor Susan Narvaiz and Police Chief Howard Williams were on hand to recognize Mesa’s courage, honor and commitment.