Positivity: Church honors local heroes
Service comes near anniversary of 9/11
The horrific attacks of 9/11 shined a light on heroes like the ones honored Sunday at a church south of Kilgore.
“It’s wonderful,” Kilgore firefighter Michael Stanley said, after finding a seat for Hero Sunday at Pirtle United Methodist Church. Stanley, the fire prevention officer in the Kilgore Fire Department, was joined by more than 20 fellow firefighters, officers from the Kilgore police and Rusk County sheriff’s departments, crew members of Champion EMS ambulance service and family members.
It’s really great to have this recognition,” he said. “I’m a little bit in awe, because there were so many people … that really gave their lives in New York. Even with (hurricanes) Rita and Katrina, they were working on getting a (response) system up (as they worked). They were tragedies, but good has come out of all of it. They had a fire here at this church a couple of years ago. Our D Shift responded.”
The fire that destroyed the 160-year-old pioneer church’s original building, in May 2002, was one reason this congregation wanted to mark the sixth anniversary of 9/11 by honoring the local brethren of the first responders who flew into action when the twin towers fell.
“The heroes that responded (to the Pirtle fire) made a big difference,” the Rev. Dudley Plaisance Jr. told the congregation. “In our community, we see every day the activities by them for all the people in our community.”
Crim’s Chapel Volunteer Fire Department member Michael Searcy said the first responders in New York City had set the bar for a nation of men and women who dedicate themselves to saving lives and property.
“Really, what you saw on 9/11 (was) the selflessness, all the good qualities about them,” Searcy said. “And they gave their lives to something that looked impossible. And there’s no telling how many lives they saved.”
Outside the sanctuary, where several ambulance and firetrucks sat parked, four U.S. flags flanked the front door to greet the arriving heroes.
“I’ve been asked several times over the past few weeks, ‘What’s all that flag-waving going on over there at Pirtle?’ ” Plaisance said. “Something happened six years ago, on Sept. 11, 2001, that forever changed the way we look at our world. We had lots of heroes that day. Today we honor that.”
