(Fire Chief Erin Janssens and command staff of Portland Fire & Rescue)

Portland firefighters, (a majority of them off-duty) from across the city participated in Veterans Day events over the weekend. Fire Chief Erin Janssens marched alongside firefighters in the Ross Hollywood Chapel Veterans Day Parade. Grant and Inger Coffey, the parents of Marine Cpl. Keaton Coffey who died on May 24th during combat operations in Afghanistan, were honored as the Grand Marshals of this year’s parade.

This year’s event was a somber reminder of the personal connection we all share with the men and women who have served or are currently serving our nation. Grant Coffey is the regional Hazardous Materials Coordinator for Portland Fire and Rescue. His son died just weeks before he was to return home from his second tour of duty in Afghanistan.

(Portland Fire & Rescue's 1949 Mack Fire Engine)

(Memorial Bell depicting Cpl. Keaton Coffey on Truck 7)

Firefighters also attended the Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall http://www.dmvietnamwall.com/portland/.  At this event, members of Portland Fire & Rescue’s Honor Guard “posted the colors” (placed the flags) while other firefighters used ladder trucks to hoist a giant flag into place.  This was an opportunity for firefighters to honor those who protect us.    

(Photos courtesy of Joseph Troncoso and Dick Harris)