Alva Review-Courier -

CADDO, Okla. (AP) — Two deadly gunbattles 40 years ago in southern Oklahoma between a pair of heavily armed prison escapees and Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers still impact the way state police are trained and equipped today.

Then-Gov. David Boren called the events of May 26, 1978, in Caddo and Kenefic "the worst single tragedy in the 40-year history of this law enforcement agency."

Veteran troopers Billy G. Young, 50, Houston "Pappy" Summers, 62, and Lt. Pat Grimes, 36, were killed by two convicts who had escaped from the state penitentiary in McAlester on April 23. Another trooper, Lt. Hoyt...