JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The community honored 26 fallen firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty on Wednesday.
The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department held its fallen firefighter memorial service at Fire Station 1 in downtown Jacksonville.
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It’s been three years since Terona Feacher lost her son Michael Freeland, who was a firefighter with JFRD and died in the line of duty at just 36 years old.
He was one of the 26 heroes honored on Wednesday.
“Coming to the memorials is almost like a reminder of when everything initially happened,” Feacher said.
Feacher said her son was a loving young man.
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“Always smiling, always helpful, always hugging and touching,” Feacher said.
The 26th name added to the memorial wall was Heath J. O’Shea. He was an engineer with the department and lost his life on the job after 20 years of service.
“It’s an honor to put Heath on the wall, you know it’s sad to see what they are going through and the pain they are still feeling,” JFRD Chief Keith Powers said.
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While the pain of losing a loved one will never fully go away, Feacher said all 26 names on the wall are just a reminder of the service they provided to their community.
“Regardless of when it happened but the fact that we still honor and celebrate them and remember them it’s a blessing,” Feacher said.
Next year, Jason Woodruff will be the 27th name added to the wall. He was an active-duty engineer with JFRD who passed away a couple of weeks ago.
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