Labor Day has passed, yet this weekend ushers in an annual Colorado Springs event no less important. We encourage all to join in and show appreciation for the people who keep us safe and alive.

For the first time after a three-year interruption by the COVID pandemic, friends, relatives and colleagues of hundreds of fallen firefighters will gather downtown and at Memorial Park for an in-person version of the Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial event.

This year’s memorial could and should be the largest in history. Though held virtually in 2020 and 2021, many survivors of those killed during those years will be at this year’s memorial to get the full experience of mourning with others in the presence of a shrine to their deceased. They will celebrate the lives of loved ones who died selflessly defending the lives and properties of strangers.

The ceremony, at the International Association of Fire Fighters Memorial in Memorial Park, will include a reading of 469 firefighters being honored this year. Names of the deceased are etched into the large granite walls of a memorial, similar to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington.

A pipe-and-drums band parade will march through downtown Colorado Springs at 8 p.m. Friday and again at 8 p.m. Saturday. The memorial service begins at 11 a.m. Saturday at Memorial Park.

Firefighters, whether they die or survive to retire, save far more lives than are lost in the line of duty. Often, when no one dies in a blazing building or car crash, we hear nothing about it. Whether consciously or subconsciously, most people living anywhere in the civilized world enjoy peaceful sleep and a peace of mind they owe to the men and women who devote their lives to saving other from all assortments of disasters.

Nothing we can say here tells the story of the Fire Fighter’s Memorial better than the a poem titled “The Wall” by an unknown author:

The Wall

They’ve come from every walk of life,

they’ve come from every region.

We honor their heroic deeds,

on this black wall their names emblazon.

Each one, a different story tells

of bitter tragedy,

of courage-etched upon this wall,

lives given for community.

The world won’t long remember them

without this monument-

Our globe, awash in suffering,

where countless other lives are spent.

But in this honored, reverent place,

their memories brightly shine

On this green field beneath the Rockies,

thankful hearts a tribute find.

When men and women ask the question,

“What do firefighters risk for me?”

These names in granite answer back,

“We’ve purchased your security

with precious offering of our lives,

with families torn by grief,

with fervent sacrificial duty-

firm was our belief

that someone must defend the lives

and property of all-

this pledge so fully did we live

that now, we line this wall.”

This Friday and Saturday, let’s show unprecedented support for firefighters killed in the line of duty and the people who love them – adults and children who have traveled from around the globe to share their grief, mourn and honor some of the bravest to live among us.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board

EDITOR’S NOTE: For a full agenda of Fire Fighter Memorial events, visit the IAFF website at: https://www.iaff.org/fffm22/#home