Posted on 07/08/2013 9:35:45 AM PDT by CedarDave
As the procession escorting the fallen Granite Mountain Hotshots home came past the courthouse plaza in Prescott late Sunday afternoon, more than a thousand people stopped talking. Some put their hands over their hearts, while others clapped. Children waved flags, and many cried.
"We want these young families to know how much we appreciate the sacrifice their loved ones made to protect us," Barb Corkle said. "We want to show them that we love them, that we will help them by making donations, and whatever else we can do."
The 19 elite firefighters died while attacking the Yarnell Hill Fire on Sunday, June 30, just a week after they and other firefighters helped save peoples' home from the Doce fire in Prescott.
The procession of 19 hearses, a fire engine, and motorcycle escorts started in Phoenix around noon. Honors were presented as the fallen firefighters were taken from the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office to the waiting vehicles.
Then it was on to Prescott, where the caravan passed first through downtown and then by the Granite Mountain Hotshots; station on Sixth Street. The five-hour journey ended at the Yavapai County Medical Examiner's Office in Prescott Valley.
The Granite Mountain Hotshots were escorted by the Joint Arizona Honor Guard, and within each hearse, an honor guard member and flag accompanied each fallen firefighter so they were never left alone until delivered to their families.
"I want to show support not just for the families of the ones that died, but also for that 20th hotshot who survived," Janet Potts of Prescott said. "He's going to need that too."
"What hit it home for me were the 19 riderless horses in the [Saturday's rodeo] parade with the hotshots boots, helmets and tools," Dennis Karp said. "It was heartbreaking."
(Excerpt) Read more at dcourier.com ...
Granite Mountain Hotshots Procession through Prescott
The final memorial service will be Tuesday at a 6,000 seat conference center in Prescott Valley. VP Biden and Senator McCain will attend. It will not be open to the public as family, friends, other invited guests and fire fighters from around the country are expected to fill it. Individual funerals for the men begin Wednesday.
The schedule for final activities plus approved donation sites can be found at: www.YarnellFallenFireFighters.com
Well that video will certainly put a lump in your throat and a tear in your eye. I’ve seen several references that say one has to go back to the Depression era to find such a large loss of life in a forest fire. While that is true something very similar happened at a place called Mann Gulch. You probably recall Norman MacLean as the author of “A River Runs Through It” as well as the movie. But he became obsessed with a book that was not finished by the publisher until after his death. The book is call “Young Men and fire” and what a exceptional book it is. The Mann Gulch fire of 1949 was a wildfire in the Helena National Forest, Montana, United States, which claimed the lives of 13 firefighters including 12 smokejumpers who parachuted into the area to fight the fire, but were unable to control it. There’s another similarity also. The foreman at Mann Gulch survived by lighting a fire in the grass then lying down within it. The others refused to do so and tried to outrun it to their demise. Several months following the fire, fire scientist (and father of modern day forest fire fighting) Harry Gisborne, from the U.S. Forest Service Research Center at Priest River, came to examine the damage. His early evaluation of data conflicted with what had actually happened. Having a history of heart problems he was counseled to not attempt the visit but this was too important to him. He did conduct an on-ground survey of the fire site and before the day was out stated that he had been completely wrong about what he had assumed to have happened. He suffered a heart attack and died at the site while finishing the day’s research. If you’ve never read the book and have an interest in the challenges involving forest fires, you’ll really enjoy this one.
It WAS finished by the publisher after his death...proofreading is your friend.
I’m mighty proud of this place! You should’ve seen all the roads, not just downtown. We all just parked along the sides of roads and waited for them.
No clapping...lots of flags, scout troops, bag pipes...
And Patriot Guard riders, too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOVcSa9Q41g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7DjFa_vta8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ev31-M6QZE
I was there...the lines were from Phoenix and thousands paid respects all along I=17
it was gut wrenchin
Yep! There were local bikers involved due to Fred’s group.
Now, if Slow Joe and McCain could just stay away..
Slow Joe’s an American. I’d prefer him than the Anointed One where it’s always about him (remembering the Gabby Giffords/Tucson memorial where activists put T-shirts on the chairs saying “Together We Thrive”).
You DO have a point.
I think Barry is meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus tomorrow.
This one’s hard to watch...
Oh my, it certainly was. The men who brought them off the hill were all members of the Prescott Fire Department, except one -- from the Chino Valley Fire District: Capt. Dan Parker. His son, Wade Parker, was one of the 19.
As one said, a "horrific honor." As in war, you retrieve the fallen and honor them.
This link found on FB...
Watch the video.
Thanks - good organization to remember and donate to.
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