Girard honors fallen firefighters

Elmer “Sonny” Scales, chief for Crawford County Fire District No. 4, was guest speaker Sunday for the 21st annual Fallen Firefighters Memorial Services at the Girard Fire Station.

“I was commander of the fire guard for the first memorial service here in 1987,” Scales said.

He was introduced by his younger brother, Pete Scales, Girard fire chief.

“It was Sonny who talked me into becoming a firefighter,”  Pete Scales said. “I guess he saw something in me that I didn’t see.”

“It was Pete who brought up the idea of having these memorial services during an officers meeting,” his brother said. “We discussed it, and it kind of went from there. We had four officers then, and we had to do everything for the ceremony. Just look what it’s become now.”

The ceremony started with a flag raising, and presentation of the colors by the Southeast Kansas Firefighters Honor Guard, which represents nine area communities.

In his talk, Sonny Scales discussed the meaning of the Maltese Cross, an emblem adopted by firefighters centuries ago. He explained that it originated with the Knights of St. John, who were based on the island of Malta, but went off to the Holy Land on the Crusades.

“There they met with fire as a weapon of war,” he said. “When the Crusaders approached city walls, glass bombs filled with burning naptha were thrown at them. Many of them were burned to death, but others were saved from fiery death by their fellow knights. These were the first firefighters, and they were awarded the Cross of Malta.”

Pete Scales read “Firemen’s Prayer,” a poem by an unknown author.

“I believe it could have been written by any firefighter,” he said. “It explains why we do what we do, why we run into burning buildings when other people are running out.”

Kirk Conroy, Girard Fire Department captain, read the names of the 101 firefighers who gave their lives in the line of duty over the last year. As he read each name, he rang a bell, and at the end rang the bell five times in three measures.

“This signifies the fire engine returning home,” Conroy said.

A memorial wreath was presented, with a red Maltese cross on a white background, as Owen Dunlap, Girard, played taps.

The Rev. Darrell Biggs gave the invocation and benediction, and refreshments were provided by the Frontenac Fire Department and Crawford County Fire District No. 4.