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Emergency workers cite 'close-knit community' Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Above: Lesa Best, right, Fire District 3, Hector Lopez, with the Oregon Department of Forestry, and members of Fire District 5 join in prayer Friday for the New York City emergency services crews who died this week. After a ceremony at Miles Field, firefighters led an impromptu procession down Eighth Street past the memorial service in Alba Park. By BILL VARBLE Judge Phil Arnold is telling several hundred people gathered in Medford's Alba Park at noon Friday that our actions should be consistent with our beliefs. "Like you, today I feel grief," he says of the tragedies in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. Then the community service of remembrance, hope, justice and peace is interrupted by the rumble of diesel engines growing louder and louder. A few people turn to the noise, then more, and the clapping begins, growing and growing as an impromptu parade of fire engines moves slowly east on Eighth Street. The firefighters have come from an earlier, spontaneous event, a brief salute to their fallen comrades in New York City that took place in the parking lot at Medford's Miles Field shortly before noon. "It was the idea of being so many miles away from the tragedy and wanting to do something," explains Brian Graunke, a supervisor with Mercy Flights. "It's a tight-knit community." That event drew firefighters, police and other emergency workers from agencies around the Rogue Valley. Red and yellow fire engines and black and white state police patrol cars were draped in the black of mourning. An American flag was run up a long ladder, a pole stitched into it by paramedics to coax it into hanging straight instead of fluttering in the soft east breeze. "It's a chance to pay respects," says Dennis Turco, of the Oregon Department of Forestry. "It's real hard to explain to somebody who's not a member of the family," says Bob Cambas, of Medford, a longtime firefighter now with the National Fire Academy in Maryland. After prayers and the national anthem, the firefighters and the others drove to Alba Park downtown. "Let us remember that we are truly a nation of high ideals," the Rev. Lou Schneider says at the park. "Let us not become so possessed by hate that we become the terrorists of our own souls." "Hope is a powerful word," the Rev. Ernestine Collins says. "We can go beyond anything that is trying to destroy us." "Never does hatred cease by hating in return," the Rev. Patt Herdklotz says. "I am not a terrorist," Arnold says. "I am an American. I will not hate people because of their nationality." The firefighters' procession goes on for five minutes. The crowd stands, clapping and clapping. Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.