National Park Service Fire Honor Guard

So, Michael was selected to be a member of the new NPS fire honor guard... super cool! The Park Service has had an honor guard in the ranger division for a while, but not for firefighters. When the opportunity presented itself, he applied, and he feels very honored to be a part of this group. He went to Boise for a week to attend initial training and to take part in the Wildland Firefighter Foundation's family weekend.  The foundation has this event annually and invites the families who have lost a firefighter to come and take part. They have a really nice memorial there in Boise with a stone for each of the wildland firefighters who have died. I was fortunate to be able to go along and meet the other honor guard members and to attend the family weekend. It was extremely touching to see the pictures of the lost loved ones and hear the families talk about them. If you have a minute to visit the link to the foundation, it's well worth a look. They do such great work for families who have lost a firefighter... such a great group of people.

This is the stone for Michael's friend Spencer Koyle at the memorial.

Michael looks so handsome in his uniform... this is in front of the waterfall at the memorial.

This is the group of honor guardsmen who took part... there are represenatives from the NPS, the Forest Service, the BLM and CDF.

The flag ceremony on Sunday morning at the foundation's headquarters.

Some of the statues on the memorial grounds.

I had never taken the opportunity to visit the memorial before in all the trips I've made with Michael to Boise, so I'm so glad I got to take part in the family weekend. And, I'm just so proud of Michael.