FAMILY, FRIENDS REMEMBER FIREFIGHTERS

Published 12:00 am Monday, June 23, 2003

By T.L. Petersen

Observer Staff Writer

The t-shirts were more numerous than the dress shirts and ties Saturday afternoon. Fallen, but never forgotten. The Hayman Fire.

Laughter and tears alternated as family members and friends of the five Grayback Forestry wildland firefighters who died June 21, 2002, in a van accident on their way to the Colorado fire gathered a year later.

Daniel Rama, 28, of Baker City; Retha Shirley, 19, of La Grande; Jacob Martindale, 20, of Boise; Bartholomew Bailey, 20, of Baker City; and Zachary Zigich, 18, of Twin Falls, Idaho, were remembered in song, prayers and small stories. And the work the five did, heading off to save property far from their own homes, was recalled and honored by U.S. Forest Service representatives and Michael Wheelock, president of Grayback Forestry.

Lending solemnity to the service, the Oregon National Guard raised the flags to open the gathering, followed by the sound of the Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue Pipes and Drums.

Mark Schlessman, minister at La Grande’s First Christian Church, set the tone for those speakers who followed, explaining that "we are here to remember, honor and celebrate in a special way" the lives of those lost.

"Their lives were short, but those lives were very important to us," he said.

Before and after the ceremony at the Blue Mountain Conference Center, the crowd of nearly 200 moved slowly past memory boards showing photographs those being remembered. There were pictures from high school athletic contests, family gatherings, good times with friends.

"Their mission was clear," program coordinator Rance Smith of the Men’s Christian Network of Medford said. "They were trained firefighters going to do a job. These young people were acting on a need greater than themselves. They were heroes."

Members of all but Zachary Zigich’s family parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters used the day to remember.

Taylin Rama, younger sister to Daniel Rama, sang a song for her brother that started with the words, "Many, many amazing things that keep me loving you." As the words of the love song continued, it was clear that the song was a perfect, loving tribute to her brother.

Remembering Retha Shirley was Suzann Chapman, mother of Tyson Schoenmoser, Retha’s boyfriend.

"Retha was unique," Chapman said, telling how Shirley had loved her family, had no problems with them, and came to be the peacemaker in the Schoenmoser-Chapman family as well.

"She was a very in-charge kind of person," Chapman said to soft laughter.

"None of us will ever have the choice of how we die," Chapman said, but we have a choice of how we live. Retha did that. She always amazed me with how she wanted to bring people together."

Chapman reminded everyone at the service that a scholarship had been started in Shirley’s name to help OHSU School of Nursing students.

"Jacob lived life to the fullest," Jacob Martindale’s father, Brent Martindale said. "His smile brought life to a room."

Brent Martindale summed up a common theme of those remembering the lost firefighters: "They had adventurous spirits."

"It’s the kids we’re here for today," Martindale said. "Every one of them was a ‘Wow.’ " Martindale ended his memories by reading a note that had been left on his porch the morning after the accident in Colorado.

Carla Bailey, Bart Bailey’s mother, his grandfather Les Schafer, and family friend George Rau, chose bluegrass gospel music as a fitting way to remember.

"Bart’s whole life was lived so you would see Jesus," his mother told the gathering after singing an original song she wrote call "The Long and Dusty Road." The song, she said, was given to her when Bart and his twin sister, Brandy, were two years old.

The Bailey family ended their musical tribute to Bart by singing the bluegrass spiritual, "Can’t Be at Home in this World Anymore."

After the family memorials, La Grande City Manager Wes Hare welcomed all to the community, saying that the community shared their grief. "I think the message we take with us today is a message of hope," he said.

Speaking of the memorial stone resting under a green canopy in the parking lot that will eventually be part of a memorial park near the La Grande Fire Station, John Schuyler, deputy forest supervisor of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, honored "all who pick up a shovel, or a Pulaski" and fight to protect people and property.

Schuyler spoke to the families and to the many wildland firefighters gathered at the memorial, trying to explain what they do and why they do it. He called on the memory of the many monuments to firefighters across the west, from Mann Gulch and Storm King Mountain, to the one in Prineville.

"My wish is for the day we don’t have to build any more monuments," he said.

Fighting tears, Michael Wheelock, president of Grayback Forestry, spoke of the difficulties of the past year, personally and professionally.

"We wanted to ensure that these five are not forgotten," Wheelock said.

"I wanted to run, to hit the comfort of the bottle," Wheelock said, expressing his feelings after the accident. "I never wanted to send out a crew again."

But weeks after the accident, Grayback crews were going out, he said. The 15-passenger vans and some older vehicles were sold, and Grayback has become "champions of safety," at gatherings of independent firefighting contractors.