ALTUS -- Troopers from across Oklahoma were among some 150 people who gathered inside the Altus Community Center on a rainy Tuesday morning to dedicate a memorial to Oklahoma Highway Patrol officers who died in the line of duty in our part of the state.

Although four trooper -- two who died in plane crashes and two who died from assailants' guns -- were being honored, it is the shooting death of Trooper Nikky J. Green that hung heavily on the minds of those gathered. Green was shot and killed while investigating a vehicle near his Cotton County home. Jury selection is set to begin Monday in the trial of Rick Ray Malone, who is charged with killing Green to hide the methamphetamine lab found in his car.

OHP Commissioner Kevin Ward told those gathered that Green's death fueled a revolutionary Oklahoma law that restricts the sale of pseudoephedrine, a primary ingredient in meth, saving countless lives. So effective is the law, Ward said, that President Bush sent his deputy drug czar to Oklahoma to investigate the drastic decline in meth arrests. A similar law is being considered on the federal level.

Green was a member of Troop M until just before his death. His widow, Linda Green, sang the song "Hero" for the gathered crowd.

According to OHP spokesman Pete Norwood, the memorial plaza is the first of its kind in Oklahoma. Green's memorial has already been erected. The other three are soon to follow.