THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 21, 1994 TAG: 9410190183
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY ROBYNE R. COOKE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 156 lines
THREE CHESAPEAKE firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty were memorialized with a permanent monument during the local observance of Fire Prevention Week.
A granite marker inscribed with the names of the three men was unveiled Oct. 11 in front of the Public Safety Building on Albemarle Drive.
``It should not be forgotten what these people have done. It's the least we can do for them,'' said Michael L. Bolac, the city's fire chief.
The stories of the fallen firefighters were retold at the ceremony, as family members, friends, firefighters, police and city officials stood by in somber silence:
On Sept. 1, 1964, volunteer firefighter A.L. Johnson responded to a reported structure fire on Cedar Lane. When he returned to the station, he collapsed with a heart attack. That call was a false alarm.
Capt. Sherman W. Goddin Sr. was overcome by smoke when he responded to a house fire in the Chadwyck area of Western Branch on Sept. 30, 1973. He was rushed to the emergency room of Portsmouth Hospital, where he later died. Goddin was 52 years old and left a wife, a 10-year-old son and two stepchildren.
``He was a firefighter for more than 29 years and was very devoted to his job,'' said his widow, Virginia Davis. ``I wouldn't have had it any other way, and neither would he. He loved his work.''
``It's not always the highest-paid job, but they're dedicated,'' she added.
Davis was at the ceremony with her son, Waylan, his two children,
Amy and Seth, and her daughter from a previous marriage, Verna Reese. Goddin was Reese's stepfather.
Davis placed a white carnation at the base of the monument during the service.
``It's real nice that they remembered,'' she said.
Jerrold W. Branch, a Chesapeake firefighter who also was a volunteer for the fire department in Dendrin, responded to a structure fire there April 13, 1986. He collapsed at the scene while manning the pumper panel and later died of a massive heart attack, leaving a wife, a 16-year-old son and a 10-year-old daughter.
``You don't really expect something like this to happen to you,'' said his son, Jerrold W. Branch Jr.
Branch, who was 46 when he died, had been a Chesapeake firefighter for about 16 years and a volunteer firefighter for Dendrin for about 10 years, said his widow, Patricia Branch.
``He was a firefighter 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I knew there was a risk, but that's what he always wanted to do,'' said Patricia Branch, who was also a Dendrin Fire Department volunteer at the time of her husband's death.
When she arrived at the scene of the fire, someone yelled to her to bring the oxygen. She didn't know it was her fallen husband who needed it.
``They did everything they possibly could to save him,'' she said.
Like family members, fellow firefighters suffer when one of their own is lost, Bolac said.
``If you haven't been a firefighter, I'm not sure you can understand,'' he said. ``When you're with someone 24 hours a day, you know as much, if not more, than their family members do. This is a profession where you have to rely on each other. Losing a fellow firefighter takes a piece out of you. It's hard to explain.''
The monument was a long time coming, said Jeannette McPherson, office associate for fire administration. Fire Department personnel first got the idea of setting up a permanent marker during a 1987 memorial service for the fallen firemen.
The Chesapeake Fire Department Special Affairs Committee collected the $12,000 in donations used to purchase the marker, McPherson said.
The stone itself was quarried and cut on the coast of India. The etching on the back of the marker, which depicts firefighters in action, was designed by artist Mimi Untiedt of Ogg Stone Works in Portsmouth.
Mayor William E. Ward read a proclamation in commemoration of the event and urged those present to keep the memory of the fallen firefighters alive in their hearts.
City Manager James W. Rein recalled the progress the Fire Department has made in safety measures and called all firefighters courageous. He said he hopes that the marker will never have another name added to it.
``We say thank you, we remember your courage. You face one of the most raging, destructive forces in order to protect us,'' State Sen. Mark L. Earley said in an address to the firefighters present. [The following article appeared as a side bar to this story.] Maltese cross is symbol of firefighting
The new Chesapeake Fallen Firefighters' Memorial has a Maltese cross etched into the black stone. The cross has been a symbol of firefighting for many centuries.
When a courageous band of Crusaders, known as the Knights of St. John, fought the Saracens for possession of the Holy Land, they encountered a new weapon unknown to European warriors. It was a simple, but horrible, device of war that wrought excruciating pain and agonizing death upon the brave fighters of the cross.
The Saracens' weapon was fire. As the Crusaders advanced on the walls of the city, they were struck by glass bombs containing naphtha. When they became saturated by the flammable liquid, the Saracens hurled torches into their midst.
Hundreds of knights were burned alive. Others risked their lives to save their brothers-in-arms from dying painful deaths. Thus, these men became the first firefighters.
Their heroic efforts were recognized by their fellow Crusaders, who awarded each hero a badge of honor - a cross similar to the one firefighters wear today.
Since the Knights of St. John lived for nearly four centuries on Malta, a little island in the Mediterranean Sea, the cross came to be known as the Maltese cross.
The Maltese cross is the firefighters' badge of honor, symbolic of their ancient profession. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by STEVE EARLEY
Color on the Cover: Virginia Davis, widow of Capt. Sherman W.
Goddin, who was killed in 1973, places a carnation at the memorial's
base.
A granite marker inscribed with the names of three Chesapeake
firefighters who died was unveiled Oct. 11 in front of the Public
Safety Building on Albemarle Drive.
Virginia Davis, widow of Capt. Sherman W. Goddin, holds a white
carnation to place at the base of the monument.
Firefighters and city officials stand as the dedication ceremony
begins.
Photos
Jerrold Branch
Capt. Goddin
A FIREFIGHTER'S PRAYER
This prayer is etched on one side of the monument honoring fallen
firefighters:
Give me concern,
A willingness to seek out those in need.
Give me courage,
The boldness of spirit to face and conquer fear,
To share and endure the ordeal of others in need.
Give me strength,
Strength of heart to bear whatever burden might be placed on me
and strength of body to deliver safely all those placed in my care.
Give me wisdom to lead
The compassion to comfort and the love to serve unselfishly
wherever you take me.
And please, Lord, through it all, be at my side.
Amen
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE FIRE DEPARTMENT
by CNB