As I sat in the fire station one day, one of the younger firefighters thought he would pull a fast one on me as the chaplain. The tradition around our firehouse (and for others) is that if you can pull a challenge coin out of your pocket and put it on the table and the other person cannot, that person owes you a beer. Not that I was into this tradition, but on this occasion, this young firefighter thought he would get the best of me. Unknown to him, I carry three, all the time, attached to my key ring. He was a little embarrassed…and a little poorer (he bought me a six-pack of Henry Weinhard’s root beer).

I carry three challenge coins and a handcuff key on my key ring everywhere I go. Each is a reminder, or memorial, of where I met God or where he did something special in my life. And if you stop and ask me, I will tell you a story with each. A lot of us do the same thing in public safety. We have challenge coins, patches, plaques, memorials, photos, and special bells, to name a few. These can be good things if they cause us to improve who we are as public safety officials.

As a chaplain, I look back on the early days of the Israelites and the examples they provided as they set up a number of altars or memorials (Genesis 28:10-19, Genesis 33:20, Genesis 35:1-3, Exodus 17:8-16, Exodus 24:4, Joshua 4:1-9). These were set up to remember a time of meeting God and to tell the story to the next generation. They are a perfect parallel for me as a public safety chaplain.

With that, here are three reasons why memorials and memorial services can benefit us in public safety.

1. We remember a time when God did something special in our lives. While not everyone will look at these memorials this way, people of faith certainly can. As a chaplain, memorials can help remind us that God is with us, even when we walk in the dark times of our lives.

2. We retell the story to the next generation. Stories are very important to us in public safety. Not only can they help provide healing, but they also allow departments and stations to share in a common heritage. Usually, this is a stressful situation that was overcome or a tragedy that brought us closer together. As a chaplain, it is imperative that you know the common stories and the reasons behind the memorials of your department. They can provide a redemptive analogy to encourage your first responders in the right situation.

3. Memorials can also remind us of our loss and encourage us to be better at what we do. For me, it was the loss of a number of the Prineville Hotshots on the South Canyon Fire (Storm King Mountain) in 1994. As the Forest Service, we had to reexamine our "can do anything" attitude in light of this horrific loss. Even though we have had some great losses of wildland firefighters since then, we have saved many because of what we have learned. Their memorial is a testament to who we lost and what we have learned. https://www.oregonlive.com/wildfires/index.ssf/2014/07/prineville_hotshots_revisiting.html