Today I attended the Orange County Fire Service
Memorial. This is an event where they
pay tribute and honor firefighters who have passed away the prior year.
Unfortunately I got notice a bit late since they
probably tried to call my grandparents’ house number which of course is no
longer in service. A fireman friend
called my dad and mentioned Papa’s name was in it so Dad then tells me on
Friday. Oh by the way the thing is
Monday. Oh and all he knew was where it
was. WTF!?
I hunted around on the internet and was
transferred a few times after calling the Orange County Fire Authority and
finally got someone who could help. She
was very sweet and jokingly annoyed that I wasn’t alerted earlier. The man running the event sent me the PDF and
told me to be there a bit before 10am.
My boss graciously didn’t even give it a 2nd
thought letting me go, so this morning I nervously got ready and headed
out. Dad can’t handle going to Fireman
Memorials. Shane couldn’t get off work. Mom can’t handle it. And gramma is too ill and out of sorts so she
doesn’t even know about it. I’m on my
own.
I head down to Downtown Santa Ana and see the road
is closed and a bunch of fire trucks there with the flag in between. Wow.
This is quite a to-do! I drove
through a parking structure with no luck, then went to another a few blocks
down thanking my lucky stars I left real early and trotted to the event. I arrived sweaty and out of breath and asked
a Battalion Chief what do I do if I’m a family member. He directed me to the fellow who emailed me
and said to have a seat in the special area and when they call Papa’s name I go
up and place a rose at the feet of the statue.
Great. They handed me a bottle of
water, I sat down, took a deep breath and tried to prepare.
Here’s a blip about the touching statue:
In 1980 the
Association researched the idea of building a monument dedicated to fallen
firefighters here in Orange County. July 1, 1993 a construction permit was
obtained and groundbreaking ceremonies were held at the site located in civic
center on Broadway in the city of Santa Ana. Oct. 9, 1993 the monument was
dedicated, and statue depicting Monsignor John Sammon was added and dedicated
July 12, 1995. Each year there is a memorial service held honoring those who have
passed on the prior year. The annual service is now held on September 11th
Above the statue is a bell. Each time a name was read they rang the
bell. Then at the end of the naming they
did what’s called the “final alarm” ringing it nine times in 3 sets of 3. It was beautiful.
The cadets arrived and those poor kids stood guard
the entire thing. FYI – it’s about 95
degrees today.
There was a welcome then an opening prayer. This was then followed by the Presentation of
Colors. I’ve seen this before and it’s
very military like – very tradition – very regiment – and very beautiful. Fireman march up being led by the
(left..left..right…left..etc) fellow.
Some carry axes, two carry the flags.
I started to partially lose it here.
We then did the pledge of allegiance then we sat
down as the names were read.
The 1st rose was placed at the foot of
the statue in honor of all those we lost on 9/11. I started to cry. The names were then read by city. There were a total of about 30. I’m so glad Santa Ana was near the end
because I got to see how it worked. They
called the name, if a family member was present they went up and along with a
representative (they looked like chiefs and captains) gave you a rose, you
walked up and placed it at the foot of the statue. The fireman then saluted while you stood
there and then you walked back. If there
was no family member the fireman representative went up and placed the rose and
saluted. It was so touching. When Papa’s name was called I was
shaking. I also started to cry. Thank GAWD for sunglasses. I shakily walked up with the fireman, kissed
the rose then placed at the statue. He
saluted and we walked back. I was now
sobbing quietly.
After the names were read they did the final
alarm. Bawling. I think I was the only one.
They read the Oath of Office.
Then Taps was played. Hello song that rips my fucking heart out
every time it’s played. They announced
the drum/bagpipe fellows who came and then played Amazing Fucking Grace. Let’s now add salt and lemon to my open
heart.
They retired the colors.
Then some closing words.
I hightailed it out of there and sobbed in my car
for about 20 minutes then pulled it together to return to work.
It was truly such a beautiful ceremony and the
fact that they even do it is so wonderful.
I was so damn happy I could be there because the fire department was so
very important to my Papa. I know he was
watching me wherever he is.
Below is a little blip from the OC Register.
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