GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — It was difficult for many to hold back tears as a bell tolled inside the Grand Rapids Fire Department's training center on Monroe Avenue NW. The sound of "Amazing Grace" could then be heard when the fire department's pipes and drums played.
But other than those two sounds, Wednesday night was mostly silent for members of GRFD and several other departments from across the county.
The training center was the starting point for a silent parade held in memory of firefighters, active and retired, who have passed away whether they were killed in the line of duty or not.
"We have a huge amount of tradition in the fire service and it's a way that we can make sure that when people are gone from service that they are remembered, their name carries on," said Grand Rapids Chief John Lehman.
"It's very meaningful to not only the people that they worked with, and the communities they work for, but their families who also sacrificed a lot alongside those people that are no longer with us during their careers."
Chief Lehman said that in 2021 and 2022 three firefighters in Michigan have died in the line of duty. During that same time, hundreds of other active and retired firefighters have passed away not while on duty. Many of them died of COVID-19.
The City of Grand Rapids has lost 22 firefighters in the line of duty. The most recent happened in the 1960s.
The parade went south on Monroe, east on Louis, and north on Division, ending at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital.
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