An ‘In God We Trust’ sticker has been placed on the windshield of an Elkins Fire Department truck, one of two applied during the weekend. The process has begun to produce stickers to be placed on all eight trucks, including the chief’s vehicle.
ELKINS, W.Va. — The Elkins Fire Department is showing their faith in a higher power by beginning a process to affix “In God We Trust” stickers to their trucks.
Elkins Fire Chief Tom Meader said the stickers are currently on two of the company’s trucks but will eventually be on all eight, including the chief’s vehicle. The stickers will be placed on the front windshield of the trucks.
“It was a no-brainer, the way we feel. It’s been just thrown around and I said ‘That’s no problem, I’ll make an executive decision on that any time,’ which is my feelings,” Meader said. “In our line of business we do need help and it was an all-department decision. We got together and it was decided on to go for it. It was 100 percent.
“It was an in-house thing. We noticed a lot of controversy going on through the years about this, that and the other,” he continued. “God is with us every day we go. That’s who protects us when we go out and, I think, that’s the reason we put that on there is because, like I said, we’ve got to have somebody to help us in our line of business. It was just an in-house thing, nobody came to us. We just did it on our own.”
Meader said firefighter J.W. Jones was integral in “getting the ball rolling” on this project and is currently working to get the rest of the stickers produced.
“‘In God We Trust,’ that is being placed on the fire department apparatus, was brought up and agreed upon by our members of the department,” Jones said. “Our members are proud about loving God, loving our country and the principles this country was founded on. In our line of work we always trust in God and our training to bring us home safe.”
Meader noted Elkins City Police have put similar stickers on their cruisers earlier this year.
“The (Elkins) City Police did the same thing on all their vehicles and I think it’s a good gesture that we decided we wanted to go with that,” Meader said.
Elkins Mayor Van Broughton said he was pleased with both agencies.
“As mayor of Elkins, and as a Christian who puts God first, I applaud both the Elkins police and fire departments for being united in their efforts to take a stand for what they believe in,” Broughton said. “This symbolizes their belief in God as emergency responders, that he is with them as they put their lives on the line to serve and protect our citizens.”
Broughton added he was impressed by the commitment of the firefighters and officers, noting they incurred the out-of-pocket expense for the stickers themselves.
“These professionals were so committed to this project that they paid for it out of their own pockets, so there was no cost to the city,” Broughton added.
Elkins Police Chief C.D. Cross said his department thought it was important for the stickers to be placed on the cruisers because he feels God gives them strength during stressful situations that come with the job of serving as law enforcement officers.
“All you have to do is to look back through this country’s history to see that without God’s favor we would not have become a nation and prospered the way that we have. We must stand against the tsunami that seeks to wash away everything we God-fearing Americans believe in and turn this country back to God. We can not let political correctness govern the way we believe or determine the choices we make. What’s wrong is wrong and what’s right is right. It shouldn’t matter who we offend by standing up for what is right, being right is all that matters,” Cross said.
“With that being said, why did I choose to have ‘In God We Trust’ put on our cruisers? Because with all the bad things we see, dangerous situations we face and the hard times we endure, we must trust in God to give us the strength, knowledge and fortitude to do our job. We also believe that only the Almighty God can heal this country and take away the great scourge of drug addiction and lawlessness that has overtaken this country.”
