A Day of Remberance

Images from the California Fallen Firefighter's Memorial Ceremony held on Saturday.

Large flags hung from ladder trucks marked both entrances to

the ceremony.

 The media was well represented, the fact that the governor was

scheduled to speak probably helped.

 A choir from the Sacramento are opened the ceremony. They

performed extremely well and sounded beautiful.

The procession of flags that were to be presented to the families

of the fallen marched past the crowd. Recognize the man in the

dark gray suit?

California Professional Firefighters President Lou Paulson spoke.

As did International Association of Firefighters President Harold

Schaitberger

Rumor has it that Governor Swartzenegger cut short a European

business trip to attend. Although I am not a big fan, he did give a 

good speech.

One of the Honor Guard on post during the

ceremony.

The thirty flag presentations were done one at a time, with a group

of four standing in front of the crowd. After the four flags were

presented, another group of four would march in and four more

flags would be presented.

As each name was called, the bell was struck once. At the

close of the ceremony, the final alarm was struck. Three bells 

struck three times. Sniff.

CPF President Emeritus Dan Terry closed the ceremony. His

efforts were instrumental in getting the memorial built.

Due to where I was seated and the fact that I was required to stand at attention for a few parts of the ceremony, I didn't get to photograph some parts of the ceremony. I was lucky to get what I did.

I spoke with some family members whose loved one's name was added to the memorial wall this year. They felt that this ceremony was a very intimate and appropriate tribute to their loved one, with just the right amount of emotion. I would have to agree.

If you get to California next October, try and attend. It is a touching experience.

Thanks for reading,

Schmoe.