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GIRARD —
Firefighters from around Crawford County and Jasper County, Mo., hosted the 25th annual Fallen Firefighter’s Memorial Service Sunday afternoon in Girard. And they pulled out all the stops for the silver anniversary celebration, moving the ceremony to the Girard High School football field so Eagle Med could stage a helicopter flyover and landing, and raising a giant American flag on one of Girard Fire Department’s ladder trucks.
The ceremony was started 25 years ago by then-Girard Fire Chief Pete Scales, and firefighters decided to continue to host the annual event after Scales retired several years ago. Each year at the ceremony firefighters read the names of every firefighter killed in the United States during the previous year and ring a brass bell in their honor.
“All that we ask for those who are still in the service and their friends is to please be vigilant and don’t become one of those members we honor today,” said Scales, who was one of the guest speakers.
After Fire Marshal Terry Powell read the Fireman’s Prayer, speaker Bobby White, fire science coordinator for Hutchinson Community College, said memorial services began popping up after 9/11, and that he appreciates the fact that the firefighters started the ceremony so long ago.
“You guys were already well-founded for commemorating the firefighters,” White said. “The honor and the dedication is the same throughout.”
White spoke of how important it is for the fire fighters to stay at the top of their game.
“We have services, talking about the names, and then a few weeks down the line we fall into thinking that it won’t happen to us,” White said. “That’s not right. You need to remember them every day. There are people behind those names and lives that were affected. We need to think about them every day. Changing what we do and becoming better firefighter is how we honor them.”
After members of the Southeast Kansas Honor Guard and Carl Junction Honor Guard played a Taps medley, Girard firefighter Will Holt read the names of the 80 firefighters who were killed in the line of duty. The following is the list of those firefighters, by state:
Arkansas
• David L. Easton — West Memphis Fire Department
California
• Glenn L. Allen — Los Angeles Fire Department
• William F. Hopman — Quincy Volunteer Fire Department
• Vincent A. Perez — San Francisco Fire Department
• Anthony “Tony” Valerio — San Francisco Fire Department
Firefighters from around Crawford County and Jasper County, Mo., hosted the 25th annual Fallen Firefighter’s Memorial Service Sunday afternoon in Girard. And they pulled out all the stops for the silver anniversary celebration, moving the ceremony to the Girard High School football field so Eagle Med could stage a helicopter flyover and landing, and raising a giant American flag on one of Girard Fire Department’s ladder trucks.
The ceremony was started 25 years ago by then-Girard Fire Chief Pete Scales, and firefighters decided to continue to host the annual event after Scales retired several years ago. Each year at the ceremony firefighters read the names of every firefighter killed in the United States during the previous year and ring a brass bell in their honor.
“All that we ask for those who are still in the service and their friends is to please be vigilant and don’t become one of those members we honor today,” said Scales, who was one of the guest speakers.
After Fire Marshal Terry Powell read the Fireman’s Prayer, speaker Bobby White, fire science coordinator for Hutchinson Community College, said memorial services began popping up after 9/11, and that he appreciates the fact that the firefighters started the ceremony so long ago.
“You guys were already well-founded for commemorating the firefighters,” White said. “The honor and the dedication is the same throughout.”
White spoke of how important it is for the fire fighters to stay at the top of their game.
“We have services, talking about the names, and then a few weeks down the line we fall into thinking that it won’t happen to us,” White said. “That’s not right. You need to remember them every day. There are people behind those names and lives that were affected. We need to think about them every day. Changing what we do and becoming better firefighter is how we honor them.”
After members of the Southeast Kansas Honor Guard and Carl Junction Honor Guard played a Taps medley, Girard firefighter Will Holt read the names of the 80 firefighters who were killed in the line of duty. The following is the list of those firefighters, by state:
Arkansas
• David L. Easton — West Memphis Fire Department
California
• Glenn L. Allen — Los Angeles Fire Department
• William F. Hopman — Quincy Volunteer Fire Department
• Vincent A. Perez — San Francisco Fire Department
• Anthony “Tony” Valerio — San Francisco Fire Department
Connecticut
• Robert D. Watts — Windsor Volunteer Fire Department
Florida
• Joshua O. Burch — Florida Forest Serice
• Brett L. Fulton — Florida Forest Service
• Gregory Leon Harris — Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue Department
• James L. von Roden – Lee Community Volunteer Fire Department
Georgia
• Terrell G. Nielsen Sr. — Bryan County Fire Department
Guam
• Vincent J. Cruz — Guam Fire Department
Idaho
• Caleb N. Hamm — Bureau of Land Management, Bonneville Interagency Hot Shot Crew
Illinois
• Daniel C. Dare — Avon Fire Protection District
• Patrick B. Hannon — Chicago Fire Department
• Corey R. Shaw — Du Quoin Fire Department
Indiana
• Steve Auch — Indianapolis Fire Department
• Scott T. Davis — Muncie Fire Department
• Travis L. Miller — Waterloo-Grant Township Volunteer Fire Department
• Timothy R. White — Cedar Lake Fire Department
Kansas
• Jim Niles — Downs Fire Department
Kentucky
• Donald R. Lam — Kentucky Division of Forestry
• Charles V. “Sparky” Sparks — Columbia-Adair County Volunteer Fire Department
• Christopher T. Stock — Westport Volunteer Fire Department
• Michael C. Webb — Fleming-Neon Volunteer Fire Department
Louisiana
• Scott Osenenko — Livingston Parish Fire Protection District No. 4
• Christopher J. Peterson — Ward Four Fire Protection District.
Maine
• David E. Remington Sr. — Shapleigh Fire and Rescue Department
Maryland
• Mark G. Falkenhan — Baltimore County Fire Department, Lutherville Volunteer Fire Company
Massachusetts
• Paul J. Cahill — Boston Fire Department
• Jon D. Davies Sr. — Worcester Fire Department
• Thomas J. “Todd” Lange — Pittsfield Fire Department
• Warran J. Payne — Boston Fire Department
• James M. Rice — Peabody Fire Department
Minnesota
• Chip A. Imker — Cambridge Fire Department
Mississippi
• Jacob A. Carter — Becker-Athens Volunteer Fire Department
• Charles E. Foster — Barton Fire Department
• Larry C. Gressett Sr. — Toomsuba-Alamucha Fire and Rescue
• Joshua Jay Wilkes — Unity Fire Department
Missouri
• Henry “Jay” Branscum — Northeast R-IV Rural Fire Association
• Leslie L. Clark — Dixon Rural Fire Protection District
• Richard E. Paul — Kansas City Fire Department
Montana
• Remy H. Pochelon — United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service
New Hampshire
• Harold F. Frey — Sandown Fire and Rescue Department
New Jersey
• Andrew K. Boyt — City of Cape May Fire Department
• Thomas M. Shields — Flanders Fire Company No. 1
• Jonathan C. W. Young — Rosell Fire Department
New York
• Jarrett T. Eleam — Big Tree Volunteer Fire Company
• Michael P. Esposito — Baldwin Fire Department
• Thomas V. Regan — Garden City Park Fire Department
• Kevin E. Townes Sr. — Mount Vernon Fire Department
North Carolina
• Richard L. Barbour — Wilson’s Mills Fire and Rescue
• Jeffrey S. Bowen — Asheville Fire Department
• George Wendell Fisher III — Sandy Bottom Volunteer Fire and Rescue
• David S. Howell — Roseboro Volunteer Fire Department
• David J. Hunsinger Jr. — Tar Heel Volunteer Fire Department
• Johnny L. Norton — Hot Springs Colunteer Fire Department
Ohio
• Charlotte R. Adair — Richfield Township Fire Department
• Gregory S. Baker — Lewsville Community Volunteer Fire Department
• Randy D. Boley — Clinton Township Fire Department
• James M. Hall — Greentown Volunteer Fire Department
• Robert J. Tieche Sr. — Cardinal Joint Fire District
Oklahoma
• Kyle Kenneth King — Perry Fire Department
Pennsylvania
• Christian D. Beaston Jr. — Hellam Fire Department
• Derek V. Kozorosky — United States Air Force, Kadena Air Force Base, Japan
• John J. Lackovic Jr. — Valley Forge Volunteer Fire Company
• Keith G. Rankin — Lancaster Township Fire Department
• Edward N. Steffy — Rothsville Volunteer Fire Company
South Dakota
• Trampus S. Haskvitz — South Dakota Department of Agriculture, Division of Wildland Fire Suppression
• Jacob P. Waldner — Sunset Fire Department
• William G. Waldner — Sunset Fire Department
Texas
• Gaston A. Gagne III — Baytown Fire Department
• Todd W. Krodle — Dallas Fire-Rescue Department
• Elias Macias-Jaquez — Cactus Volunteer Fire Department
• Larry G. Nelson — Val Verde County Rural Fire Department
• Chris K. Pham — Dallas Fire-Rescue Department
• Gregory M. Simmons — Eastland Fire Department
Utah
• Stephen R. Cox — South Davis Metro Fire Agency
Virginia
• Jeffery A. Cocke — Altavista Volunteer Fire Department
Washington
• Matthew M. Hadaller III — Lewis County Fire District No. 3
• Garet G. Rasmussen — Chelan County Fire District No. 1
West Virginia
• Joseph A. “Joey” King Jr. — Davs Creek-Ruthdale Volunteer Fire Department
Wisconsin
• Ronald D. Ruprecht — Stone Lake Fire Department
