By Greg Jordan, Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BECKLEY — Firefighters who served their communities in McDowell County, Fayette County and Berkeley County were recognized by their colleagues and state officials recently at the state monument honoring the sacrifices firefighters have made to do their duty.
Meeting near the West Virginia Fallen Firefighters Memorial, Gov. Patrick Morrisey and other dignitaries came to the Capitol Complex to honor three firefighters joining others who passed while on duty. After a ceremony with an invocation, an honor guard, bagpipes and a salute, West Virginia State Firemen’s Association President Doug Miracle spoke about what it means to be a firefighter.
“As I got here today, I looked up the definition of firefighter, and it says a person who does a job, whose job it is to extinguish a fire,” Miracle said Sunday. “It is so much more than that because each one of us go out into the communities whether you’re paid or volunteer and help out everyone. And for me, it comes from John 15 :13 ‘Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.’ That speaks great volumes in the fire service.”
Gov. Patrick Morrisey said that the ceremony was being conducted to honor brave men and women who have dedicated their lives to serving others.
