By Trudy Simpson, Staff Reporter 
Veronica Williams, in wheelchair, mother of slain JDF soldier Kevin Lawrence, being assisted by a member of the Force (right) as she accepts the award on behalf of her son at yesterday's National Honours awards function. - Norman Grindley /Staff Photographer
FOUR FAMILIES were joined in grief and triumph yesterday, brought together by the awarding of national honours to slain family members.
Representatives of each family were on hand at Kings House, among 145 persons who came to collect the awards in the first of two ceremonies planned to honour a total of 174 persons for national service.
For them, the ceremony was bittersweet because it meant renewed pain even as they felt pride that the nation was remembering their loved ones - marine and narcotics diver, Aubrey Farr, the Jamaica Constabulary Force's (JCF) Sergeant Mark Henry and Constable Basil Black and the Jamaica Defence Force's (JDF) Lance Corporal Kevin Lawrence, who were killed between July, 2001 and April 2002.
Their awards were accepted by Kaylene Farr-Campbell, Farr's mother, Veronica Williams, Lawrence's mother, Roy Henry, Henry's father and Denise Dobson, Black's sister.
For her part, Mrs. Farr-Campbell was taking comfort in the fact that her son had been remembered.
"It's nice to know that you have a son who defends what he thinks is right. Deep down, that's how I feel. I'm hurt because I've lost my son but, in a sense, I'm proud," she said, holding back the tears.
Mr. Farr, then 32, was murdered last October, becoming the third specialist narcotics diver to have been killed in the last 12 months. His body was found by residents on the soft shoulder off Diamond Road, Kingston 13, with multiple stab and chop wounds. Two other divers - Carl Lubsey and Donovan Henry - were shot dead in separate incidents in Clarendon and St. James last year. They received posthumous awards last year.
"He was the last one, the very last one. He's my baby," said Mrs. Farr-Campbell, a mother of six. Mr. Farr, who received the Badge of Honour for Gallantry, is survived by five siblings, a common-law-wife and two children.
Twenty-four-year-old Constable Black was ambushed by gunmen in Duhaney Park, St. Andrew, on April 5 this year, while Lance Corporal Kevin Lawrence was shot in the chest on North Street during the unrest in West Kingston, July 7-10, 2001, which left 27 people dead.
Ms. Williams came dressed in a black hat, signifying that she was still mourning for the young soldier.
Sergeant Henry was also killed during the incident in western Kingston in July, 2001.
All three received the Medal of Honour for Gallantry, a fine memento for Mr. Henry, whose father still cannot come to grips with his death.
"He wanted to be an inspector and he died before making that. I can't stop missing him. Every day I talk 'bout him. He's closest to me," the 63-year-old man said, reminiscing about a son who he described as very kind and who gave him financial support.
But, Mr. Henry also had strong grouse about compensation from the Government. "I did all that I could do during the time of his death and I was told that I would have been refunded and up to now, no one has said anything about it... I was surprised when somebody call me and say I must come to rehearsal because there's an award for him, because I thought he was totally forgotten. I'm happy still. The honour is quite all right where I am concerned. I'm happy to know they really remember him," he said.
