David Lambert readily told his wife that he “bled blue.”

That is why, Annette Lambert said Wednesday, that the Warren County deputy who died last year after a wreck while responding to a call “would have been so honored” to have a plaque presented by the Vicksburg chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

The Purple Heart is awarded to members of the U.S. armed forces who are wounded by an instrument of war in the hands of the enemy and posthumously to the next of kin in the name of those who are killed in action or die of wounds received in action. The plaque presented Tuesday at the Battlefield Inn is for a first responder injured or killed in action.

“It is humbling to have men and women who have sacrificed so much to honor one of our own,” Sheriff Martin Pace said, “not only for his sacrifice in death, but for his contributions throughout his career.”

Lambert, 38, was driving north on U.S. 61 North, responding to a call in the early morning of June 23, when he swerved to avoid a vehicle entering the highway from Oak Ridge Road, causing him to lose control of his patrol car. Lambert died at a hospital a month later.

This is the only First Responders plaque the Vicksburg chapter has awarded.

“It was just so overwhelming,” Annette Lambert said. “He would have been so honored to have this. He always told me that he bled blue and that it was his duty to get out there to serve and show respect for the people of his community.”

“Since we cannot award the Purple Heart Medal for these people who put their lives on the line every day, this plaque and citation conveys MOPH’s respect and appreciation for men like David Lambert,” chapter president Charlie Tolliver said.

Lambert had been in law enforcement for 15 years, including seven months with the Warren County Sheriff’s Department. He previously had worked for Reservoir Patrol in Brandon.

“It was just overwhelming to have these men who were wounded in action pay tribute to my husband,” Annette Lambert said. “They really made me feel like I was part of the family.”

She also praised the sheriff’s department.

“They have really huddled around me like a family this whole time,” Lambert said. “They have made this horrible situation just a little bit better.”