Slain Kentucky marshal honored over a century later in Texas

A federal officer gunned down while transporting prisoners through eastern Kentucky was honored at a small ceremony Friday in Texas, more than a century after his death.

Senior officials with the U.S. Marshals Service and judges gathered at a courthouse in Plano, a suburb northeast of Dallas, to present a flag to Russell Wireman's great-great-great grandson, Gary Hulsey.

Wireman, a marshal, was shot in the chest in 1889 during the so-called Moonshine War, but his death until recently has been a lost part of history. The presentation of the folded flag was part of an effort by America's oldest federal law-enforcement agency to recognize officers whose deaths during a particularly deadly period of its history had been obscured by the passing decades.

U.S. Marshals John Garrison, left, and Richard Taylor, right, present a folded flag to Gary Hulsey, his wife Jessica and daughter Summer, all residents of Wylie, Texas, during a ceremony at the United States Courthouse in Plano, Texas, Friday, July 26, 2019. Judges and senior officials with the U.S. Marshals Service gathered at the North Texas courthouse to present the flag and other items to the great, great, great grandson of Marshal Russell Wireman, who was shot in the chest in 1889 during the so-called "Moonshine War." (AP PhotoTony Gutierrez)

"We have a saying in the law enforcement community that we never forget," said Richard Taylor, U.S. marshal for the Northern District of Texas. "One hundred and 30 years later, we never forget."

Wireman, 32, lived in Kentucky with his wife and four children, U.S. Marshals Service historian David Turk said. He was one of many marshals killed during a federal government crackdown of illegal liquor distilleries in the Appalachian Mountains around the turn of the 20th century, Turk said.

The marshal had been transporting prisoners through Knott County, Kentucky, when he was ambushed by a posse that was looking to free the moonshiners, Turk said. A gunfight broke out and Wireman was shot in the chest while trying to cross a shallow place in a river.

U.S. Marshal John Garrison addresses attendees at a ceremony honoring Marshal Russell Wireman, who was killed in the line of duty over a century ago, at the United States Courthouse in Plano, Texas, Friday, July 26, 2019. Judges and senior officials with the U.S. Marshals Service gathered at a North Texas courthouse to present a folded flag to the great, great, great grandson of Marshal Russell Wireman, who was shot in the chest in 1889 during the so-called "Moonshine War." (AP PhotoTony Gutierrez)

Hulsey, 40, of Wylie, Texas, said he's related to Wireman through one of the late marshal's four daughters. He said he knows little about his great-great-great grandfather but was honored when told Wireman's name would be added to the memorial wall at the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Turk said he and marshals in Kentucky pieced together what happened to Wireman through newspaper accounts, court documents and other records. They eventually found Hulsey through an ancestry website.

In the many years that have passed since Wireman's death, some things in Knott County have endured, Taylor said.

U.S. Marshal Richard Taylor addresses attendees at a ceremony honoring Marshal Russell Wireman, who was killed in the line of duty over a century ago, at the United States Courthouse in Plano, Texas, Friday, July 26, 2019. Judges and senior officials with the U.S. Marshals Service gathered at a North Texas courthouse to present a folded flag to the great, great, great grandson of Marshal Russell Wireman, who was shot in the chest in 1889 during the so-called "Moonshine War." (AP PhotoTony Gutierrez)

"By the way," he said, "it's still a dry county today."

U.S. Marshals John Garrison, left, and Richard, Taylor, right, carry a folded flag they presented to family members of Marshal Russell Wireman, who was killed over a century ago, during a ceremony at the United States Courthouse in Plano, Texas, Friday, July 26, 2019. Judges and senior officials with the U.S. Marshals Service gathered at the North Texas courthouse to present the flag and other items to the great, great, great grandson of Marshal Russell Wireman, who was shot in the chest in 1889 during the so-called "Moonshine War." (AP PhotoTony Gutierrez)

Gary Hulsey, a 40-year-old resident of Wylie, Texas, poses for a photo with his wife Jessica, left, and daughter, Summer, right, holding a folded flag that was presented to them during a ceremony at the United States Courthouse in Plano, Texas, Friday, July 26, 2019. Judges and senior officials with the U.S. Marshals Service gathered at the North Texas courthouse to present the flag to the great, great, great grandson of Marshal Russell Wireman, who was shot in the chest in 1889 during the so-called "Moonshine War." (AP PhotoTony Gutierrez)

Richard Taylor, left, U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Texas presents Gary Hulsey, a 40-year-old resident of Wylie, Texas, and his wife, Jessica, with a "Challenge Coin," at the United States Courthouse in Plano, Texas, Friday, July 26, 2019. Marshal Russell Wireman, a federal officer gunned down while transporting prisoners through eastern Kentucky, was honored at a small ceremony Friday morning, more than a century after his death. (AP PhotoTony Gutierrez)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said Monday that it attacked three boats accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing a total of eight people as scrutiny over the boat strikes is intensifying in Congress.

The military said in a statement on social media that the strikes targeted “designated terrorist organizations,” killing three people in the first vessel, two in the second boat and three in the third boat. It didn't provide evidence of their alleged drug trafficking but posted a video of a boat moving through water before exploding.

President Donald Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and asserted the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. But the Trump administration is facing increasing scrutiny from lawmakers over the boat strike campaign, which has killed at least 95 people in 25 known strikes since early September, including a follow-up strike that killed two survivors clinging to the wreckage of a boat after the first hit.

The latest boat strikes come on the eve of briefings on Capitol Hill for all members of Congress as questions mount over the Trump administration’s military campaign.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top national security officials are expected to provide closed-door briefings for lawmakers in the House and Senate.

The campaign has ramped up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has been charged with narcoterrorism in the U.S. In a sharp escalation last week, U.S. forces seized a sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration has accused of smuggling illicit crude. Maduro has insisted the real purpose of the U.S. military operations is to force him from office.

The U.S. military has built up its largest presence in the region in decades and launched a series of deadly strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. Trump says land attacks are coming soon but has not offered any details on location.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a Mexican Border Defense Medal presentation in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)