By Jamie Thompson
FireRescue1 Editor
They each arrived with their own unique story and left with their own personal perspective. But for the thousands of people who attended the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend, the purpose was the same — to honor and remember.
The 28th annual Memorial Weekend in Emmitsburg, Md., offered opportunities for both private reflection and collective remembrance; it was a time when the brotherhood of the fire service extended its collective arms to embrace the families of the fallen. It is part of an ongoing healing process for survivors of an LODD.
Read on for four individuals’ uniquely different perspectives on the Memorial Weekend and what it meant for them.
Pride and honor
- Capt. Darian Edwards attended the weekend as part of an Honor Guard from the Colerain Township, Ohio, Fire Department. The department lost Capt. Robin Broxterman, 37, and Brian Schira, 29, in the line of duty in April last year. They became trapped in the basement of a house while battling a fire.
“It’s been almost 18 months since the loss of our two members. We have done a lot of things locally of course since then to commemorate them including the one-year anniversary earlier this year. A lot of the raw pain has been able to subside over time.
“I think the majority of us went up to the memorial at the weekend more from a tribute perspective, to respect and honor them rather than a healing issue.
“But all of that changed on Saturday night when the true individual, heartfelt pain and emotion really hit us all again. They had a large card, the size of a kitchen table, which everyone signed and also the bronze plaque was displayed in an area for everyone to view before it was officially mounted.
“Once you see the names on the plaque, when you can see them and touch them, that’s when it all sets in. That’s when the true emotion and pain resurfaces.
“On the Sunday, the Memorial Service was very well put together, it was a fitting tribute. American flags are given to each family during the Memorial Service. One of the nicest things they did for us was allowing our honor guard members to present the flag to our fallen family. Being able to give it to them with our own hands created a lot of pride and honor.”
Everything was so perfect
- Lisa Monroe attended the Memorial Weekend with her husband, Eddie. Their son, Justin, 19, along with Victor Isler, both of the Salisbury, N.C., Fire Department, was killed while battling a fire at a woodworking company in March last year.
 Photo courtesy of The Salisbury Post Lisa Monroe holds a medallion bearing her son’s name that was given to her during Sunday’s service. View slideshow from the weekend. |
“We really didn’t know what to expect at the weekend as we obviously hadn’t been to anything like this before. It was a little overwhelming when we got there seeing so many families. You look around the room and you realize that every single person there is going through the same thing you are, whether it’s a child, a husband or wife, or a parent.
“Seeing the families of the 103 firefighters who lost their lives last year kind of puts things into perspective and it does create a bond knowing that the 103 families had also had someone killed doing the same thing.
“Everything about the weekend was so perfect and you can tell that the organizers put so much effort into it. The Candlelight Service was just beautiful, and they try to personalize everything for the individual families. At the Memorial Service, I don’t think anyone could have had dry eyes. There was always something that just touched you.
“The senior escort that was assigned to us was actually from the Charlotte Fire Department and was actually there at the incident during my son’s death. That was so amazing, it was wonderful to share part of my son’s life and talk about him with someone like that.
“We also saw the brick on the Wall of Honor that someone had purchased in my son’s name. His name will always be there and on the plaque. It’s a powerful thing knowing that as long as we want to, we can go there to visit it and see that he and the other firefighters were part of this big plan that God has created.”
We stand beside them
- Glenn Gaines attended the weekend as the Deputy Fire Administrator for the United States Fire Administration
“It was a beautiful weekend, you couldn’t have asked for better weather over the days. The attendance there was probably one of the highest ever. My main reflection on the weekend is that it was respectful for the survivors – and when you think about it, that is its main purpose. I refer to them as the ‘quiet heroes,’ those who would be left behind on the long nights their loved ones would be away on calls.
“From an educational perspective, I think the weekend also allows them to see that whenever we lose a firefighter, every member of this profession – not only in this country but internationally – pauses to reflect on the loss and they stand beside them.
“The weekend causes two main emotions for me. The first is sadness for the loss of these great community leaders. The second is a determination to do everything possible every day to reduce, if not eliminate, needless loss of life.
“As you look at the causes of firefighter fatalities, over 40 percent in 2008 were caused by heart attacks, in many cases premature heart-related incidents. One of the initiatives the USFA will be taking on is partnering with other fire service organizations on a program for mitigating, if not preventing, these premature heart-related illnesses and occurrences.
“Another issue of course is the loss of life among those in fire and EMS while responding to and returning from incidents. We will certainly be focusing on the issue.”
Helping families move forward
- Ron Siarnicki has attended the Memorial Weekend for the past eight years as executive director of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
“The weekend is filled with a lot of emotion, but as much as possible we try to make it a celebration of life. The families that attend have been through the funerals and memorial services. We try to make the weekend a time when we can reflect upon and honor the sacrifice those firefighters have made.
“The families we have here are on the journey of rehabilitating their lives, so the weekend needs to be as positive as possible. Our job is to help and support the families as they move forward with this process.
“The families that come here for the first time can be overwhelmed by the level of support they are provided by the foundation and the caliber of the event itself. But our prime purpose for the weekend is to make it family friendly, which we do with the different events we hold.
“It isn’t a memorial service for firefighters or the public, although we want them here and to support it. Everything we do is based around what the families need and how it can help as they move along their journey.”