THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 23, 1996 TAG: 9603230245
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Long : 122 lines
Many of the firefighters who massed outside a small church Friday knew Frank Young, but many more did not.
It didn't matter, because they've all known someone like him - a career firefighter dispatched to a routine blaze where something suddenly went wrong. It could have been any one of them.
As Young's casket was eased onto the bed of a red fire truck draped in black bunting, hundreds of firefighters stood at attention to honor a man twice commended for saving lives.
Their shoulder patches bore the emblems of North Carolina, New York, Oklahoma, Maryland. Virginia firefighters came from all parts of the state. The firefighters represented one-pumper Appalachian outfits and big urban departments.
Seating was limited. Most of the firefighters remained outside the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses on Oak Grove Road while church member James Tate gave the eulogy:
``We've lost a son, we've lost a father, we've lost a comrade who worked shoulder-to-shoulder to save lives in the literal sense. And we've lost a brother in the congregation who worked shoulder-to-shoulder to save lives in the spiritual sense.''
A long alert tone blasted through the fire truck's radio, signaling an important message:
``Chesapeake Fire Headquarters to all units. Standby for announcement,'' came the broadcast.
``Chesapeake Fire Headquarters sounding last alarm for Firefighter Specialist Frank Eric Young, July 13, 1957, to March 18, 1996, serving the city of Chesapeake from Aug. 3, 1981, to March 18, 1996. May he rest in peace. All equipment clear and ready from the scene. Chesapeake Fire Headquarters clear.''
The funeral procession began.
Several hundred fire and rescue vehicles with lights flashing joined the procession until the line stretched more than five miles.
Young, a 15-year veteran, and another Chesapeake firefighter, John Hudgins Jr., were killed Monday when falling debris trapped them in a burning auto-parts store. Their bodies were found side by side.
The 38-year-old Young, a father of two, was the first active-duty firefighter buried by the department in more than two decades.
The procession wound 13 miles through Chesapeake and Virginia Beach, along streets often lined with spectators weeping for a man they had never met.
The procession motored past a mechanic clutching a tattered ball cap to his grease-streaked work shirt; past schools whose students stood quietly under marquees bearing messages of hope, prayer and remembrance.
Past the city garage where workers lined the sidewalk and where a wreath bearing the firefighters' names hung from a tow-truck boom; past fire stations whose crews honored a sacrifice no one wants to make, but all know they might.
Past a gray-haired man holding a poster that read: ``Thank You. We care''; past motorists stopped in traffic who stood by their cars with hands over hearts.
And, finally, the procession passed under the outstretched ladders of two fire trucks flanking the Rosewood Memorial Park Cemetery entrance in Virginia Beach.
At 2 p.m., an honor guard eased the casket from the truck. A stiff southerly wind shoved banks of gray clouds high above the gravesite. In the distance, bagpipes wailed the first notes of ``Amazing Grace.''
The fire departments were ordered to attention, and Young's son, Steven, bolted upright from his seat among the family. A fire officer whispered to him that he could sit.
Remarks were simple. Frank Young was a dedicated firefighter, father and citizen.
He will be missed. He will be remembered. He will be honored.
MEMO: A memorial fund has been established for the families of Young and
Hudgins. Donations can be dropped off at Advance Auto Parts stores or
made payable to the Chesapeake Fire Department Memorial Fund and mailed
in care of NationsBank, P.O. Box 13401, Chesapeake, Va. 23325-0401.
Services for John Hudgins Jr. will be at 11 a.m. today at the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 400 block of Scarborough Drive,
Chesapeake. The 32-year-old husband and father will be buried in Utah.
ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
Left: HUY NGUYEN; above: MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN
The Virginian-Pilot
The procession stretched for five miles. Above, Eric Hughes of
Virginia Beach and Linda Staton of Chesapeake, both shock trauma
technicians, embrace after the graveside services for Young.
HUY NGUYEN
The Virginian-Pilot
A Chesapeake fire truck bore the body of Frank Young, 38, to
Rosewood Memorial Park Cemetery for burial on Friday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paul Elmore, a Chesapeake paramedic, pauses for a moment over
Young's casket at Rosewood Memorial Park Cemetery in Virginia Beach.
Firefighters from throughout the state - and from other states -
attended the services.
MORT FRYMAN
The Virginian-Pilot
Before the funeral at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses on
Friday, members of the honor guard await Young's casket. Later,
several hundred fire and rescue vehicles were part of the
procession.
Frank Young
MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN
The Virginian-Pilot
Chesapeake paramedic Brenda Watt looks skyward after the graveside
ceremony for Young on Friday. After the funeral at the Kingdom Hall
of Jehovah's Witnesses in Chesapeake, the Fire Department broadcast
an alert tone, followed by a tribute to Young, over the trucks'
radios.
KEYWORDS: DEATH FIRE FIGHTERS CHESAPEAKE FIRE DEPARTMENT by CNB