Announcements

Most of us associate the month of May with Memorial Day, the federal holiday on which we honor, mourn, and remember those who have died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. However, firefighters also honor, mourn, and remember our own every May in a national tribute to all firefighters who died in the line of duty during the previous year with ceremonies during the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend, May 1-3.

This year, the names of the 97 firefighters who died in 2025 will be read, and their loved ones will receive an American flag that had been flown above the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial and the U.S. Capitol, and a bronze plaque bearing the names of the fallen will be officially added to the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial.

Congress passed legislation in 1992, creating the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF), as the official national organization to honor fallen firefighters and support their families.

Each year, thousands of people, including families, friends, members of Congress, government officials and firefighters attend the memorial service. Firefighter Honor Guards and Pipe & Drum units from across the U.S. participate in this national remembrance.

Visit weekend.firehero.org to find Memorial Weekend information.

Other special times this month are International Firefighters Day (firefightersday.org), National Nurses Day, World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, EMS Week, Wildfire Awareness and Building Safety, and Mental Health Awareness Month.

This month take a day, a week, or a month to honor, mourn, remember, and even thank a brother or sister representing one or more of these areas of caregiving.

Stay safe out there. I’m here if you need me.

Very Respectfully,

Sean Gartland

AFD Chaplain

(262) 352-9805 (text or call). 

For urgent help if you need it:

Crisis Line 988, Veteran Crisis Line 988+1