"The United States Marshals Service has lost more personnel to violence than any other federal law enforcement agency. Robert Forsyth, one of the original thirteen appointees, was the first marshal killed in the line of duty: he was shot to death when he went to a house occupied by a Baptist minister to serve civil papers. Since Forsyth's death, at least 287 additional officers have met violent deaths in almost every imaginable way. These are the stories of those men who died in the line of duty, serving their communities and their country, until they became involved in Deadly affrays" -- Jacket, p. 2.