Community Appreciation Night

Corporal Charles W. Hill began his career with the Alexandria Police Department in 1976. He served in numerous capacities, including patrol officer in Field Operations, and Identification Technician, a Field Training Officer, and a firearms instructor.

He was killed in the line of duty during a hostage/shoot-out tragedy on March 22, 1989. At the time of his death, Corporal Hill was serving as a member of the Special Operations Team, which responds as needed to potentially dangerous situations.

Corporal Hill received 23 letters of commendation from, among others, the City Manager, the Chief of Police, the Sheriff, and the U.S. Army, for his numerous leadership roles and the support he offered to civic organizations.

For 34 years, E. Judith (Judy) Krasnow worked with the Alexandria Mental Health Center. First joining the center in 1962, she served as Director of Prevention and Training. From 1978 to 1994, she was the Center Director. Ms. Krasnow had an extraordinary understanding of community mental health.

Judy was an expert in establishing a therapeutic relationship with each person. She imbued staff and students alike with the same sense of commitment to all Alexandrians in need of mental health services.

During her 16 years as Center Director, Judy obtained a CMHC federal grant which enabled Alexandria’s Mental Health Center to expand its programs and establish a 24-hour emergency training service. In addition, she initiated the first community-based mental health training program for daycare and preschool staff in the city. Judy was always at the forefront of mental health services delivery; for example, she saw the implementation of services to jail inmates, home-based mental health services to high risk families, community-based residential and vocational services to persons with serious and persistent mental illness, and intensive case management to the homeless.

On January 27, 1981, Deputy Sheriff William G. Truesdale sacrificed his life trying to prevent the escape of a dangerous prisoner. Deputy Sheriff Truesdale began his law enforcement career while in the Navy, as a Navy Shore Patrolman.

He was employed with the Fairmount Heights Police Department and the D.C. Department of Corrections before starting his career with the Alexandria Office of the Sheriff in 1973.

During his tenure with the Sheriff’s office, he received many letters of commendation from the community as well as from co-workers. He was a devoted employee, husband, and father.

In 1985, the Alexandria City Council passed a resolution honoring the late Deputy Sheriff William G. Truesdale. During the opening ceremonies for the new Public Safety Center, an entrance roadway to the new Public Safety Complex was officially dedicated as Truesdale Drive.

Although James Edward Shortt was born in Gastonia, North Carolina, he spent most of his life in Alexandria. In the late 1950’s, after serving the United States Navy on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Forrestal, Mr. Shortt joined the Alexandria Fire Department. He left after a year, but then returned for another year and a half. Again, he left to pursue another field. Finally realizing that “I like the [fire department] work and have found from experience I am not satisfied in any other vocation,” he returned to the Fire Department permanently in April of 1961.

In 1964, James Shortt was promoted to Fire Prevention Inspector. He soon became widely known throughout the building and construction community as a tough, but fair, public servant. Never would he allow a safety issue to slide because it seemed unimportant. The safety of others was his prime consideration and the word “compromise” was not in his vocabulary when it came to preventing fires and providing a safe environment for those he had chosen to protect. He rose to the rank of Deputy Fire Marshal, which is the rank he held when he retired on December 1, 1993. He died just a few days later.

Very few educators in the Alexandria public school system have been as loved and respected as George Talmadge Webber. An American government instructor with T.C. Williams High School since 1965, Mr. Webber was committed to inspiring and motivating the young regardless of race, creed, or color.

The sheer force of his personality and commitment to education had an extraordinary impact on others. He encouraged his students to make the most of their opportunities, to strive for excellence, to respect the dignity of their fellow men, to tolerate differences, to understand human frailties, and to respond to challenges.

During the course of Mr. Webber’s career, he educated hundreds of students, including former President Ford’s children when the president’s family resided in Alexandria. Mr. Webber received numerous civic and teaching awards, including a Joint Resolution from the Virginia General Assembly for outstanding contributions to education. He was a past president of the Durant Civic Association and Alexandria PTA Council, a retired member of the Alexandria Mental Health Board, and a member of the NAACP, Urban League, and Alpha Phi Alpha.