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how can we as a family show our honor for our fallen brothers and sisters?
Our hearts and prayers go out to any one who has lost a loved one in the line of duty. The recent loss of our brothers in North Carolina made those of us in my department made us want to do something. We discussed flying flag at half mass, in their honor, but according to federal law we are not allowed to do so. We need to do something that will allow people to know that we do grieve not only for the fallen in our own department, but for those in any department in the U.S. after all we are all in the same family, and we should be able to greive as a family.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Engineco913 on
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Daniel,
The best way to honor any firefighter whom has died in the line of duty in my eyes is to get the NIOSH report, and to read through them. Train in the areas of deficiency. Excercise safety to the maximum level.(INCLUDING SEAT BELTS!!!) Be thoroughly trained to be able to handle the situations we encounter inside a burning building or on the side of a highway.
Use the strength through training and knowledge to not make the same mistakes we all too often do.
While this may not give "sight" for those around you to see your mourning the loss, it will benefit you your fellow firefighters and the community you serve milestones, and thats worth more than any patch or sticker.
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Permalink Reply by Shannon H. Pennington on
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ok this is my own point of view based on 26 years of experience as an Honor Guardsman with a full time professional IAFF department (1100 members). I was elected to the position of president of the Guard for two terms for a period of 7 years and was presented with an honors award for a lifetime commitment to the Honor Guard and it's functions.
1) the flag issue.....ok it is a federal thing....so go out to the pole....remove it from YOUR BUILDING...and put up YOUR STATE FLAG if the protocol says from the state you can....if not....then it does not go up.....have your own F.D. FLAG ON THE POLE....yes your own...or do the generic maltese flag to half mast......if your budget gives you two flag poles one for the stars and bars...one for the state....then....lower the state flag if your state legislature provides...get ahold of your state rep and tell them what you want to do.....and then have them motion the changes to the protocol for your state......to include your building structure.....contact your fire board or city commissioner and let them know what and why...get their view....do up a petition and send it to your state legislature through your accountable area rep....and if your county and state and federal say no....then buy your own flag pole and put your own flag on it....with a garden around the base and a bronze plaque dedicated to those who have fallen....
do not be shy about this.....it does mean something......to you and to your community......if you want more help with this then title the project with something like: the Emergency Services Memory Project covering all three services you work with....get them to buy in to the idea of one flag pole one community one emergency tri services law fire and ems.....grieveing and paying their respects.....
Give me a report back on this to: firefighterveteran@hotmail.com.....
Stay safe
Shannon H. Pennington ptsd firefighterveteran
Senior Chief (Administrative)
North American Fire Fighter Veterans Network
F.I.R.S.T. S.T.E.P. H.O.P.E.
care for the caregivers
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.............and about the NIOSH report.....good thought.......cept it does not include the "suicide fatality" in the Emergency Services and yes fire fighters do that on a regular basis and nobody wants to admit it and nobody is talking about the why of the whole thing.......so......focus on the emergent crisis in the fire services....the psychological wounding to our front line responders.....it's not a sexy topic ... so do not expect much talk on it but....that is there to consider.....
the project on line with North American Fire Fighter Veterans Network (NAFFVN) is called
F.I.R.S.T. S.T.E.P. H.O.P.E.
check out the naffvn web site by doing a google search request and keying in naffvn
stay safe
Shannon Pennington ptsd firefighterveteran
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......geez ya got me going here.....last post for now............"fallen fire fighter brothers???" ok a little head up bro....have you seen the fatality rate for female fire fighters.....????never mind the cancer rates and cause of death to that population? The are cut they bleed they wound they die too......so.....respectfully do you think mayby the term..........."how do we honor our firefighter veterans who die in the line of duty" may just tweek the conscience a wee bit.....?
again just my p.o.v.
Shannon H. Pennington ptsd firefighterveteran
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Permalink Reply by daniel collins on
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Shannon I greatly thank you for your comments and ideas. As of right now my department does not have its own flag, but we are in the process of desining one for just such an occasion. I will keep you posted and send a pic of our design as soon as one is avalible.
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you are correct in the fact that we do loose alot of female firefighters in the line of duty as well and it was an oversight on my part, and believe me it was by no means intentional. we have several female f.f. in our department and I just consider them one of the guys. thank you for bringing that to my attention.
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that is a great idea, especially the seat belts. that is one thing alot of us, not really meaning to, seems to forget in the heat of the moment that can really save our lives. how many wrecks do we go to every year that is a fatallity because of not wearing one?
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hey daniel bro; take this easy...and you will find that your hands and heart are being guided by a power greater than one here on earth....so....in the work......when you get the flag up and going.....take it to your local church or have a salvation army chaplin come to you or take it to their place and have an honors detail with it....march it to church and have the colors blessed formally......then retire them to a front loby or showcase....and have the follow on colors for flying on a flag pole. The original colors for church service should include the American Flag ol Glory......your State Flag and of Course your own design original flag....Three person detail with two escorts with axes.....and a Color N.C.O. to complete. Color N.C.O. could be under arms.....this forms your honors detail to the Colors.....and they are set aside in a special place.....if all your members want a non faith based location then the front loby in a colors case where your number one fire station is....but above all else....have them blessed.....non denominational church service and then parade the colors once a year from that time forward.....I did the consult to San Jose Fire Dept some years back and they took on some of the protocols we shared with them....I have a great flag story about ground zero but will save that for another time....luck....be safe in the service....
take it easy bro......shannon pennington ptsd firefighter veteran
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Permalink Reply by James w Williams Sr on
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Here in Delaware we have our regular flag and also a mourning flag that we use when someone dies in our house or in the county. I do not see why you could not do that for all firefighters. In PA, (Delaware County) there was a firefighter that died in the line of duty a couple of weeks ago Nick Picozzi, and we hung our mourning flag at half mass. We also had black bunting hung on the front of the trucks in his honor. We have allot of volunteer firefighters here on the east coast and we are not governed by federal laws as to what we can do with our flags, so we had all flags half mass as well.
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thanks for the update and info on this......good job....if we can continue to stay in touch with the traditions and move the agenda forward to honor our fallen then we will have not aloud their passing to be without proper protocols and honoring...
shannon pennington ptsd firefighterveteran
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Permalink Reply by Tiger Schmittendorf on
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This is an excerpt from my blog on Fire Service Funeral Practices:
http://www.firefighternation.com/profiles/blog/show?id=889755%3ABlo...
If we want to really honor them, honor them now while they're still with us. Honor them by respecting them for their years of service, whether you can count them on one hand or you need to borrow someone else's fingers and toes to do it.
Honor them by showing up for every "opportunity" our customers present us. Honor them by training right along side them or dragging them to training if you have to. Honor them by listening to their stories, no matter how many times you've heard them. Honor them by telling your stories, because they don't have many of their own, yet.
Honor their family for being the ones who are making the real sacrifices every day. Honor their family and your family by wearing your seat belt every time you get in any vehicle and by doing everything else necessary to keep you and your fellow firefighters safe.
Take every opportunity to recognize your people for both their struggles and their accomplishments. Recognize, reward and publicly honor them. Don't wait. Do it now.
Trust me; they'll enjoy it a lot more now - than later...
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Good Call and something that I would expect from a fire service leader....we do not consider the living part of the equation often enough but with this reminder.....it can be an opportunity to take the time out to do just that.
Shannon H. Pennington ptsd firefighterveteran
North American Fire Fighter Veterans Network
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