Beloved state trooper remembered 30 years after tragic death

Trooper Harry L. Henderson /Photo from VSP Facebook page

FRONT ROYAL — 30 years ago, in the predawn darkness of Saint Patrick’s Day, Virginia state trooper Harry Lee Henderson was killed when his cruiser was hit by a truck on the side of I-66 in Warren County.

He was struck by a Georgia truck driver who apparently fell asleep at the wheel, and was subsequently charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless driving, according to state police records.

Henderson, 43, of Warren County was writing a traffic citation, according to attending state police Lt. J.P Henries, when a tractor-trailer ran into the back of his cruiser. The four people in the car Henderson had pulled over were injured, one critically.

Truck driver Gary L. Hughes, 25, of Dalton, Ga., was not injured in the crash.

The truck, owned by Wilmington Transportation of New Castle, Del., left the westbound lanes of I-66 and crashed into Henderson’s cruiser, knocking it into the vehicle driven by Carl Steven Davis of Chicago, according to officials.

The Davis car was knocked through a guardrail and landed on its side at the top of a steep ravine. The tractor-trailer also went through the guardrail and came to rest at the bottom of the ravine.

At the time of his death, Henderson had worked with the Virginia State Police for 14 years. He was 43 and widowed at the time, and survived by his 17-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter.

In August of 2016, the Trooper Harry Lee Henderson Memorial Bridge on Interstate 66 was formally dedicated.

Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, introduced the designation early last year in the Virginia General Assembly. Nelson Longerbeam, who had worked with Henderson, initially contacted Obenshain about the designation after consulting with the Virginia State Police Association.

County Administrator Doug Stanley and the Warren County Board of Supervisors were also instrumental in getting the bridge dedicated.