Elmer “Sonny” Scales, chief for Crawford County Fire District No. 4, was guest speaker Sunday for the 21st annual Fallen Firefighters Memorial Services at the Girard Fire Station. “I was commander of the fire guard for the first memorial service here in 1987,” Scales said. He was introduced by his younger brother, Pete Scales, Girard fire chief. “It was Sonny who talked me into becoming a firefighter,” Pete Scales said. “I guess he saw something in me that I didn’t see.” “It was Pete who brought up the idea of having these memorial services during an officers meeting,” his brother said. “We discussed it, and it kind of went from there. We had four officers then, and we had to do everything for the ceremony. Just look what it’s become now.” The ceremony started with a flag raising, and presentation of the colors by the Southeast Kansas Firefighters Honor Guard, which represents nine area communities. In his talk, Sonny Scales discussed the meaning of the Maltese Cross, an emblem adopted by firefighters centuries ago. He explained that it originated with the Knights of St. John, who were based on the island of Malta, but went off to the Holy Land on the Crusades. “There they met with fire as a weapon of war,” he said. “When the Crusaders approached city walls, glass bombs filled with burning naptha were thrown at them. Many of them were burned to death, but others were saved from fiery death by their fellow knights. These were th ...
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Elmer “Sonny” Scales, chief for Crawford County Fire District No. 4, was guest speaker Sunday for the 21st annual Fallen Firefighters Memorial Services at the Girard Fire Station. “I was commander of the fire guard for the first memorial service here in 1987,” Scales said. He was introduced by his younger brother, Pete Scales, Girard fire chief. “It was Sonny who talked me into becoming a firefighter,” Pete Scales said. “I guess he saw something in me that I didn’t see.” “It was Pete who brought up the idea of having these memorial services during an officers meeting,” his brother said. “We discussed it, and it kind of went from there. We had four officers then, and we had to do everything for the ceremony. Just look what it’s become now.” The ceremony started with a flag raising, and presentation of the colors by the Southeast Kansas Firefighters Honor Guard, which represents nine area communities. In his talk, Sonny Scales discussed the meaning of the Maltese Cross, an emblem adopted by firefighters centuries ago. He explained that it originated with the Knights of St. John, who were based on the island of Malta, but went off to the Holy Land on the Crusades. “There they met with fire as a weapon of war,” he said. “When the Crusaders approached city walls, glass bombs filled with burning naptha were thrown at them. Many of them were burned to death, but others were saved from fiery death by their fellow knights. These were th ...