ST PAUL, Minn. — On the last Sunday of every September, the Minnesota Fire Service Foundation holds a joint memorial service on state capitol grounds for more than 240 firefighters statewide who went out to serve but did not return home.
This year, they honored the fallen with traditions like Taps, the placement of a memorial wreath and the Tolling of the Bell. Several state leaders offered remarks, including Gov. Tim Walz, Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobsen and Sen. Nick Frentz (DFL-D18) among others.
"We need to do all we can to live our lives with the same sense of dignity and service that they did," the governor said.
During the program, service members unveiled two engraved columns honoring two firefighters who died in the line of duty this year and last year - Captain Christopher Parsons of the St. Paul Fire Department and Assistant Fire Chief James Scanlon of the Hopkins Fire Department. Their family members got the first look at the engravings.
"I don't believe I've ever met someone of more dignity and honor and passion and humor than Chris Parsons," Walz said.
The program also included a remembrance ceremony for three St. Louis Park firefighters who died in the '60s and '70s - Kurt Schiebe, Robert McElmurray and Arnold Johnson - and a Mapleton firefighter, Timothy Royce, who died in 2018. Royce's daughter shared a message of support.
"Fire kids often speak of the midnight charm of the pager and the shuffle of shoes at the door as our lullaby," she said. "We never envisioned that belonging to the fire community may bring us to days like today."
She went on to say the same foundation putting on the memorial every year offers families of the fallen year-round support.
"They continue to stand watch," she said.
Each year, 60-100 firefighters die in the line of duty nationwide, with as many as 141 deaths recorded in 2021, according to the United States Fire Administration.
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