Roll of Honor
Carlton R. Cherry, Sr.
Incident
Correctional Officer Carlton Cherry, Correctional Officer Wayne Griglen, Officer Eddie Davis, and Sergeant Tommie Goggins were killed in an automobile crash while returning from an Emergency Response Team training class. As they were driving on I-75, six miles south of Tifton, a tractor-trailer forced them off of the road and directly into the path of two tractor-trailers heading in the opposite direction. Both semis struck the van simultaneously. Two of the officers were thrown from the van, and the rest were trapped inside. Eight other officers who were riding in the van were hospitalized. The driver of the semi that caused the crash was charged with several offenses, including four counts of vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident. Officer Cherry was a United States Army veteran of the Vietnam War. He had served with the Georgia Department of Corrections for eight years and was assigned to the Rutledge Correctional Institution. He is buried at Fort Benning Main Post Cemetery at Fort Benning, Muscogee County, Georgia.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-GA-3740F3F4- 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
I served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Correctional Officer Cherry gave the Georgia Department of Corrections 8 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of Georgia, and for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
Carlton R. Cherry, Sr. served in the Army (1977â1989) before joining law enforcement.
Correctional Officer Carlton R. Cherry, Sr. is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In GA, 263 of 903 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 29.1% of this state's fallen. That is 1.9 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Georgia Dept. of Corrections, 8 of 38 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 21.1% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Carlton R. Cherry, Sr.'s cause is highlighted.
How Carlton R. Cherry, Sr. Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Carlton R. Cherry, Sr. is highlighted in Feb.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
37 officers from Georgia Dept. of Corrections are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
