Sara Laird says it feels “surreal” that her late husband, Josh, will likely be among the many 148 honorees Sunday on the Nationwide Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
“It’s onerous to place into phrases what attending the ceremony means,” Mrs. Laird, 43, informed The Washington Occasions. “Having my husband honored will assist guarantee he isn’t forgotten, and which means quite a bit to my daughters and I.”
Frederick County Fireplace Capt. Josh Laird was killed Aug. 11, 2021, within the line of responsibility battling a big home hearth in Ijamsville. His funeral was attended by Gov. Larry Hogan and a whole lot of firefighters, who recalled his phrases, spoken over a conveyable radio on Engine 251: “Inform my household I like them.”
Fourteen months later, his widow and two school-aged daughters will see him honored once more on the nationwide memorial, six miles from their residence in Fairfield, Pennsylvania.
Sunday’s ceremony, the forty first annual Nationwide Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service, will commemorate 108 firefighters who died within the line of responsibility in 2021 and 40 who died in earlier years.
As a part of the ceremony, leaders of the Congressional Fireplace Providers Caucus will current to the households of the fallen 148 American flags which have flown over the U.S. Capitol.
Bereaved households will journey from as distant as Alaska and the Virgin Islands to attend memorial occasions on Saturday and Sunday, in accordance with the Nationwide Fallen Firefighters Basis in Emmitsburg.
Emergency Service Honor Guard Commander Claudia J. Garner mentioned she has volunteered on the memorial weekend for the previous 15 years.
“We come collectively as one large household and encompass the households with love, help and compassion whereas bestowing the very best honors to our nation’s bravest,” mentioned Ms. Garner, 46, a member of the Cumberland County Division of Public Security in Pennsylvania. “We assist them to know it’s OK to not be OK, to take a step ahead, to take a step backward or simply to face nonetheless for a bit.”
Different households are coming again for the service, which has turn out to be a convention for a lot of.
Oklahoma resident Sandra Clinton, 54, mentioned she is returning due to her late husband, Maddy — an influence firm lineman who served as assistant chief of the Friendship Volunteer Fireplace Division in Altus. He died Aug. 10, 2018, when a porch roof collapsed on him as he fought a fireplace at a home beneath building.
“After I attended memorial weekend the yr my husband was honored, I felt so beloved, revered and understood,” Mrs. Clinton mentioned. “I needed to return again to help the brand new households throughout the memorial and assist them know that they don’t seem to be alone.”
Indiana residents Dwayne and Katrina Murphy misplaced their son, Kendall, in November 2017 — a yr and a half after he had joined the Montgomery Volunteer Fireplace Division of their city of 500 residents.
He died after one other emergency car by accident struck him as he arrived at a crash scene. The 27-year-old was engaged to be married in September 2018.
His dad and mom are returning for the primary time since he was honored in 2018.
“It was like being on sacred grounds and once we received to the memorial the place his identify is on a plaque, it was like he was there with us,” mentioned Mr. Murphy, 54, who has served within the Montgomery VFD since 1988. “We at all times had plans to return and assist others like we had been helped.”
Emmitsburg is residence to the Nationwide Emergency Coaching Heart, which incorporates the U.S. Fireplace Administration, the Nationwide Fireplace Academy and the Emergency Administration Institute.
