National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service
By Cheryl Rings
Earlier this week we (Gettysburg Flag Works) sent out a half-staff notification to thousands of our email subscribers based on a message from a customer, a little history, a government Joint Resolution from 12 years ago, and a lot of research. The problem… there’s no official Presidential Proclamation! Here’s how the story goes;
Service in Emmitsburg, Maryland
Last year (2012) we were alerted by a customer to a little known half-staff day that he called “National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Day”. It took time and effort to find out that the day he was talking about was the day of a National Memorial Service in Emmitsburg, MD, that is part of the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend each year. This weekend seems to fall either the first or second weekend of October but the dates can be found on the official website of the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend. We found that back in 2001 a Joint Resolution was issued which required that the American flag be lowered on the day of the Memorial Service which falls on that Sunday each year. This weekend is in honor of each and every American firefighter who died in the line of duty during the previous year. Check out the 2012 service in this youtube video:
Last year, and in past years, the President of the United States of America has issued a Presidential Proclamation ordering flags to half staff on the day of the service. This year, our government is on “shutdown” which has caused The National Fallen Firefighters Monument to be closed and new Presidential Proclamations to fail to be posted to the White House Website. At the time the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation was preparing alternative locations for Sunday’s service promised that it would happen with or without their traditional venue. They were also actively moving their headquarters to a temporary location that would not be effected by the government shutdown.
We decided to send the notice without the official proclamation to the overwhelming evidence that it is the correct thing to do. According to the official website, the service will be held as planned this year, and updates can be found online or on their Facebook page.
If you would like to subscribe to our half-staff notices, visit Half-Staff Dates & Flag Rules and enter your email address.