Roll of Honor

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Captain

Jimmy Douglas Sawyer

North Carolina Marine Patrol — Morehead City, NC

Cardiac

End of Watch April 5, 2002

Age 48

Tour of Duty 23 yrs

The Vigil Panel 149 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice

Incident

Captain Jimmy Sawyer suffered a fatal heart attack at approximately 10:00 am while performing qualification training at the Campbell University natatorium.

He had just finished a 200-meter swim when he suffered a heart attack. Other members of his agency and rescue personnel performed CPR on him but he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Captain Sawyer had served with the North Carolina Marine Patrol for 18 years and had previously served five years with the Tyrrell County Sheriff's Office.

Survivors

He is survived by his wife, two daughters, mother, and sister.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-NC-817AA95D
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: April 2, 2026
Last updated: July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

23 years. You could have gone home.
Captain Sawyer gave the North Carolina Marine Patrol 23 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Morehead City community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Captain Sawyer.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department North Carolina Marine Patrol

Location Morehead City, NC

Platform Identity ncmp.carteret.nc.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch April 5, 2002

Tour of Duty 23 yrs

Age 48

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Cardiac

Captain Jimmy Douglas Sawyer is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In NC, 33 of 664 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 5% of this state's fallen. That is 1 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.

North Carolina Marine Patrol

of 1 officers

100% Cardiac

NC — Statewide

of 664 officers

5% Cardiac

Nationwide

1,306

of 32,508 officers

4% Cardiac

National Cause Distribution

How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Jimmy Douglas Sawyer's cause is highlighted.

Felonious

17,623 (54.2%)

Accident

10,088 (31%)

Illness

2,974 (9.1%)

Cardiac

1,306 (4%)

Undetermined

260 (0.8%)

Suicide

256 (0.8%)

vehicular

1 (0%)

How Jimmy Douglas Sawyer Compares

Age at End of Watch

This officer

Avg for Cardiac: 48.6 years

Years of Service