Lincoln County’s fire association is working on furthering a wayto honor fallen firefighters and other emergency workers whenthey’re laid to rest.

Under the work of Fire Coordinator Clifford Galey and AssistantFire Coordinator Randy Jordan, an Honor Guard has begun to falltogether to provide funeral services for emergency workers,complete with uniforms, ceremony, bagpipes and a bugle. He said thehonor guard would primarily serve firefighters, but other emergencyworkers are not exempt if the need arises.

“It’s important to show our respect for our deceasedfirefighters and any other emergency service worker,” said Galey.”Once we get it up and going we’d be willing to help out othercounties if they need it as well.”

Galey said it’s not just out of courtesy that the honor guardwould serve surrounding areas, but also because some emergencyworkers are hard-pressed to stand by at a funeral for someone theyhave served with.

“This way emergency workers who are so close to the incidentwon’t have to do it,” he said. “Our last firefighter death, it waspretty hard to stand by that casket.”

Jordan said the purpose of the honor guard is to show respect tothose who have given a part of their lives in public service. Hesaid it doesn’t just have to be a line-of-duty death, but the deathof anyone who has served in the fire service or other emergencyservices.

“I think it’s important because it shows respect and honor to afallen brother or sister firefighter,” he said. “Because they werea part of a brotherhood they’ll always be a part of, whetherthey’re retired from the service or not.”

Hog Chain Volunteer Fire Chief John Hart said for anyone whoqualifies by having done time in fire or other emergency services,the funeral depends on what extent the family wants the honor guardto be involved. He said for a full honor guard service, guardswould be placed at the head and foot of the casket duringvisitation. During the service, the bagpipes and honor guard leadthe flag-draped casket to the gravesites.

“Then for the fire service, you have the ringing of the bell,and you ring them out one last time,” he said.

The flag is then folded and presented to the family, taps isplayed and the honor guard marches off.

Hart said having a funeral honoring the service of an emergencyworker is important because often times their sacrifices on a dailybasis go unnoticed.

“They put their lives on the line every call,” he said. “Whetherthe public appreciated it or noticed it, their fellow firefightersdid. This honors them for their dedication.”

Jordan said so far, members of seven of the county’s eightvolunteer fire departments have been measured for uniforms, and thehonor guard looks as though it will have around 30 members.

“There won’t be any duties right off the bat, but we’re going tostart practicing together so everyone will learn about it and we’llknow how to perform it so when the time comes if it does come,” hesaid.

Galey said he is not aware of another paid or volunteer firedepartment in the area that has an honor guard, with the exceptionof Jackson, and that Lincoln County has covered Copiah Countyfunerals in the past.

He said there are already a small number of trained honor guardmembers in the county. So while the larger contingent is beingtrained, the county is still covered if an honor guard isneeded.

“We have a few folks in the county now that are already trainedand we’ve done it at a couple of funerals in the past,” hesaid.

And for those who die in the line of duty, Hart said, the honorguard is there to carry them home.

“They paid the ultimate sacrifice: they gave their life servingsomebody else,” he said. “They dedicated a time of their life toserving their community and they should be honored for it becausethey probably didn’t receive much recognition while they were init.”