Jacksonville families join others to honor last year's fallen firefighters at national memorial

It was chilly at sunset Saturday at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Emmitsburg, Maryland, as Terona Feacher gathered with family to remember her late son.

Engineer Michael Freeland's name was unveiled next to two other Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department members who died in 2021 in the line of duty, joining 145 other men and women memorialized from departments across the country.

Despite the chill, Feacher said she felt "warm inside" as her son and so many others were remembered at an event that was a celebration as well as a memorial. Freeland, 36, died 11 months ago from an aneurysm when a blood vessel ruptured in his brain during rescue efforts for the driver of a crashed truck on Aviation Avenue, just blocks from Fire Station 73 where he worked.

"You are in awe of what's going on around you, and to know that your loved one is part of something where anyone in the world can be a part of, see and share this tribute to them," Feacher said. "... It is in honor of them, but it is for us, for all the loved ones, the friends and co-workers and every firefight who is out there, volunteer or career."

Michael Freeland: A 'guardian' to his mom, his was one of 3 names added to Jacksonville firefighter memorial

Thomas Barber: Veteran Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department captain dies in line of duty

Mario Moya: Jacksonville fire lieutenant becomes JFRD's first member to die from COVID-19 in line of duty

Christina Moya was there as well to remember her late husband, Lt. Mario Moya, who spent most of his firefighting career at Station 42 in Mandarin. The 51-year-old died on Aug. 17, 2021, a 17-year department veteran who was the first in the agency to succumb to the COVID-19 virus.

Remembering the support they received when he died, Moya accepted a folded flag and rose at the ceremony with their daughters at her side, saying they felt the support again from so many others whose firefighter spouses had died in the line of duty.

"My children and myself could relate, and they could relate and kind of help us through some of the things that we are still really struggling with," she said. "... These people were able to relate to us and very comforting to all of us, so it was an amazing weekend to realize that you were really not alone anymore."

Joining Moya and Freeland's names on a plaque unveiled at the memorial on the grounds of the National Emergency Training Center was that of Capt. Thomas Barber, 51, who died on June 14, 2021, after coming home from a shift at Station 25.

Their names join those of the nation's other 2021 firefighter deaths on a bronze plaque, as the National Fallen Firefighters honored 148 men and women. Firefighter Memorial Executive Director Ron Siarnicki, retired chief of the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department in Maryland, said their job is to "make sure they are honored and their families cared for." The weekend ceremonies, especially the candlelight service on Saturday night, can be "heart-wrenching," he said.

"There are luminaria bags the families have made to pay tribute to their firefighter; often photographs and personal information on that firefighter is put on those bags," Siarnicki said. "... There's a lot of emotion. But that's also part of the healing process for all the families and all the departments. But they are with other people who have been in the same shoes and there is someone there to help them."

A brother and sisterhood of firefighting heroes and famlies

The memorial began in 1981 to ensure all firefighters killed in the line of duty are honored and to support their families, becoming the first permanent national park honoring them. The park includes a brick Walk of Honor that connects a memorial chapel and the official monument. Since 1992, the nonprofit foundation has developed programs to honor the firefighters as well as help their families and co-workers.

Each October the foundation sponsors the official national tribute at the facilities at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, providing travel for immediate family members of those being honored. The families also participate in grief counselor sessions and in private and public tributes.

Separate sessions were provided for mothers, fathers and siblings before the sunset Saturday service where they could light the luminarias. Many memorial volunteers, who also lost a firefighter family member, were there to help.

"It's almost like you are meeting up with a friend you haven't seen in years," Feacher said. "The warmth from every one of them. ... We knew those in the red shirts were actual survivors of loved ones who they lost."

For Malissa Barber, the weekend was a very busy but satisfying "celebration of our loved one" who is "truly, truly missed." She said her husband, a 21-year department veteran, died from a heart attack after a shift at Rescue 25 on Manor Drive.

"It was very comforting to know that wherever we turned, there was someone there to help us, keep us busy and help us in every possible way to honor our loved ones, husbands and sons," Barber said. "... It was just comforting to know that these people cherished my husband as much as we did, and we are all there for the same reason and we just wanted to keep their memories alive."

Moya said she has plans to return to this national event because of the support the memorial offers. Sometimes it's cathartic just being with those other families, she said.

"There will be many more people who are going through the same thing and they don't have to talk; it's just sitting there, just being with somebody who understands," she said. "My kids and I decided that is maybe something we need to do as well."

Barber said she will also return to the annual memorial to offer comfort and support to others.

"I would definitely go back to help another family," Barber said. "To be there and support them in any capacity I could, just to help them walk through this event."

The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department's Fife and Drums bagpipe team also took part in the national ceremony.

"It was just amazing to see our flag, the Jacksonville flag, during the honor guard," Feacher said. "... When I saw that, my heart just started pounding, but it was a good pounding. We were elated."

Memorials locally and Florida

Jacksonville's memorial wall at Fire Station No. 1 was dedicated June 29, 1987, when only 14 names were on it. Until 2021's ceremony, the last time a new name was added was in 2008 when Engineer Neal Tarkington, a 43-year-old special-operations member of Ladder 4, died of a heart attack after leaving the station.

But at the December memorial, the fire department and Mayor Lenny Curry attended Jacksonville's annual memorial to its fallen firefighters as the names of Moya, Freeland and Barker were added during a solemn ceremony.

Fallen Jacksonville firefighters remembered: Memorial street signs erected outside their stations

Jacksonville Sheriff's Office honors its fallen: Adds 64th name to memorial wall

Family members of Florida firefighters killed in the line of duty will also assemble on Nov. 18 for the annual Fallen Firefighter Memorial Service at the state fire college in Ocala. That memorial was dedicated on Jan. 11, 1992.

dscanlan@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4549

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Three Jacksonville firefighters among 148 honored after 2021 deaths