Tradition, Service, and Honor reflect the spirit of the Southeast Iowa Regional Fire Honor Guard. On Saturday, December 4th, members of the Honor Guard will be celebrity wait staff for the evening at Tres Café in Galesburg from 4 to 8 p.m. as part of a benefit to raise funds to support fallen emergency responders and dispatchers in the Tri-State region of Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri. Commander Keith “Doc” Patterson explains the awe-inspiring service the Honor Guard provides:
“We are a group that shows honors to our emergency responders. We are trained at a higher level than a basic Honor Guard because our team is made up of Sentinels instead of Guardsmen and Guardswomen. We take it to a level of professionalism that is rarely seen and everything is done to the military standards. When we do an event, we want to make sure that everything is done so we don’t disrespect any veterans. We do everything from casket management and casket guards to the flag and urn ceremony, which is rarely seen in the fire service or for emergency responders because it was something that was only seen in the military.”
The Southeast Iowa Regional Fire Honor Guard currently consists of a 22-member volunteer team that was established on February 14th of 2007.
**Photo courtesy of SE IA Regional Fire Honor Guard (seiahonorguard.com)
