WILKESBORO
N.C. Highway Patrol troopers stood at attention yesterday as a radio call crackled over a patrol car's loudspeaker during a memorial service for Master Trooper Kyle Barber.
"F-238," a dispatcher said, broadcasting Barber's radio call number from the communications center in Newton.
The dispatcher called for attention, and then repeated the call number, followed by a final radio transmission for Barber.
"F-238," he said. "10-42."
10-42 is the code for ending a tour of duty. Barber's call number was retired along with his tour of duty.
People in the crowd hugged each other and wiped away tears. More than 40 troopers, with black bands across their badges, stood at attention. When they were dismissed, they hugged one another, too.
Barber's death on May 19 was a shock to the close-knit law-enforcement community in Wilkes County. His legs were badly broken Jan. 20, 2007, when an all-terrain vehicle pinned him against a patrol car.
He had undergone 10 surgeries. Last month, he worked one week, and the following Monday, he had another leg surgery at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. He vowed to return to duty.
He was up on crutches the day after his surgery, but later that day, he died in his sleep. He was 46.
A convoy of highway patrol cruisers and other emergency vehicles drove in procession from Barber's home near Roaring River to the ceremony outside the Walker Center at Wilkes Community College.
Trooper Joe Rankin and Sgt. Jim Cox, both close friends of Barber's, stood together to welcome and escort Barber's wife and three children.
A bagpiper played "Amazing Grace."
Cmdr. Walter Wilson presented a state flag to the family, and troopers saluted as a bugler played taps.
Barber, a trooper for 24 years, is the 61st trooper to die of causes related to the line of duty since the highway patrol was founded in 1929.
Barber had returned to his job from two on-duty injuries that could have ended his career. In 1996, he suffered a major back injury after his patrol car was hit by a pickup truck whose driver had fallen asleep on U.S. 421. Barber went through two years of surgeries and rehabilitation to return to duty that time.
The 2007 injury left him with persistent pain in his legs, but he came back to work last fall.
Friends remembered him as cheerful and upbeat, someone who served the public, loved his family and co-workers, and was fair, honest and full of compassion and integrity.
"He was the ideal trooper," Rankin said after the ceremony.
■ Monte Mitchell can be reached in Wilkesboro at 336-667-5691 or at mmitchell@wsjournal.com
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