Community has lost two of its heroes
My dad is the assistant chief of Atwell Volunteer Fire Department; my brother is also an officer at Atwell. They both serve on the Rowan County Rescue Squad, as does my mom. Coming from a family full of firefighters and emergency service members, it is a great loss that everyone, including me, has experienced in Rowan County today.
The men who died and were injured in the Salisbury Mill fire were truly heroes. Even after Sept. 11 and the Charleston, S.C. fire, I still don’t think people realize what those men are risking when they enter a burning building. I woke up this morning (Friday) to my brother, Matthew, frantically rushing out of the house to go help. As soon as I heard that there were injured men, my heart stopped. I realized it could have easily been him or my daddy. I’m glad to say they are OK. But I would like to send out my thoughts and prayers to the families who weren’t as lucky as me. I know what it’s like every time they leave the house to go on a call, and what goes through my mind.
You never know if they will return home safely. But these men risk their lives every single day. They run into houses or buildings that most of us would run away from completely. They never take a day off from saving lives. These two men gave their lives to protect others. And to me, that is a hero!
So again, my thoughts and prayers go out to the families and to the Salisbury fire departments. We have lost a part of the brotherhood that will be greatly missed.
ó Katie Beaver
China Grove
May angels protect the brotherhoodMy heart goes out to the families of the firefighters and their friends in the Salisbury and Rowan County fire departments. When you go to work for the fire department, not only do you become a fireman, you become part of the brotherhood. God bless the men and women who take on these jobs, placing their lives on the line when battling fires and responding to medical and automobile calls. May your guardian angels always be with you.
ó Loretta Teerchek
Concord
A lesson in reaching out to show supportAfter all of the tragic and “unexplainable” events that have taken place over the past few days, my third-grade son William started asking questions. His questions led to a request to do something to help ó which led to the idea to spread the ribbons to his classmates at Sacred Heart School.
William is the Student Government Association class representative for the third grade and decided that he should provide the ribbons for his class and teachers. So together we made blue and white ribbons to wear for Eve and red ribbons to wear for Victor Isler and Justin Monroe. (I realize that the city is providing these ó but he wanted to have them first thing this morning ó so we made our own.)
He then went on to research both tragic events so that he could explain why he wanted to do this. So today ó all of the third-graders at Sacred Heart will be a little more informed and be able to show support for all of these families.
After seeing what his big brother did, my second son Joseph (first grade at Sacred Heart Catholic School) wanted to be included. We made sure that he, too, understood the significance of the ribbons ó and then we made another batch of ribbons for grade one.
Just thought you would like to know yet another way the community is reaching out.
ó Lisa Clark
Salisbury