Fire/EMS Honor Guard
The Erlanger Fire/EMS Honor Guard was formed shortly after several of our founding members attended the National Fallen Firefighter’s ceremony in Washington, D.C. in 2002. The event occurs annually in Emmitsburg, MD, to honor all of those firefighters who have died in the line of duty the previous year. This was the only year it was held in Washington D.C. to accommodate all of those who would be attending to pay last respects to not only the 100 firefighters who died across the nation, as well as the 343 firefighters who died in the September 11th, 2001 tragedy. This was a very sobering experience that installed in our members not only the need to create our own Honor Guard, but to create a squad of uncompromising dedication and professionalism.
This commitment has earned our team much respect and requests to perform at many ceremonies, even though we have been in existence for a relatively short time. To carry the American flag at the funeral of someone who has died in its service is a great honor we have been asked to perform many times. In addition to having carried the flag at several fallen firefighter’s funerals, we have carried the flag and performed ceremonial duties at the KY state fallen firefighter’s memorial ceremony, KY Firefighter’s Association memorial service, parades, opening ceremonies for conventions, meetings, funerals for emergency services personnel who did not die in the line of duty, and several 9-11-01 details. Every detail we have completed has increased our pride, as those we have performed for have expressed their pleasure and satisfaction with our efforts. We have never fallen short of the high standards we had set for ourselves in the beginning.