Today, we attended the South Carolina Public Safety Chaplains’ Association Spring Training at North Charleston City Hall. The theme of today’s meeting was the different types of peer support available to the emergency services personnel in our State. Eric Skidmore of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Assistance Program (LEAP) spoke on their team for law enforcement, Patti Graham of the S.C. F.A.S.T. Team presented on the program offered through the SC State Firefighter’s Association, and I shared the details of the Lowcountry Firefighter Support Team, its’ history and the future of our program. Much information was offered to provide our chaplains with information to help them in their duties in serving our first responders.
After lunch, we took the participants over to the Charleston 9 Memorial Park where they were given a tour of the site. This tour, provided by our Team, gives us an opportunity to share information and tell personal stories about each of these good men. This is an honor for us and is not taken lightly. It is important to our Team, and to me personally, to let people know that our guys were sons, husbands, brothers, and friends who loved life more than life itself. They were hunters, fishermen, NASCAR fans, friends, and most importantly, men who loved their families. Stories of Mike’s fondness for hunting, Billy’s being one of few men that followed his mother into the fire service, Frenchie’s early volunteer days when his Mom would drive him to fires before he had a driver’s license, Earl’s love of ocean cruises and his Chrysler 300, Brad’s knowledge of computers and his love of firefighting even in the Marines, Louis’s coaching abilities and his love of sports, Mark’s love of motorcycles and his nickname “Trunk Monkey”, Melvin’s love of nice clothes and fedoras with special feathers in each, and Brandon’s journey through many fire departments to finally reach his goal of working for the City of Charleston and, most of all, an explanation of how these stories were learned from the hearts and words of their families and told by us with the utmost respect to honor our guys and perpetuate their legacies.
Thanks to all of our chaplains who attended today and who gave us the opportunity to share the stories of the Charleston 9.
“Forever in our Hearts”.
Gerald
