The Safekeepers Shrine, which stands more than 14 feet tall and weighs more than 650 pounds, sits in a huge slab of granite permanently imprinted with the names of the 33 first responders York County has lost since 1904.
That year, three members of the Vigilant Fire Company — John H. Saltzgiver, Horace F. Strine and Lewis M. Strubinger — died on duty together on April 6.
Twenty-nine names separate those men from the last name listed: Rodney P. Miller, who was killed while directing traffic around an accident scene by a drunk driver on April 27, 2013.
There were several design ideas for the monument when first discussed a year and a half ago, said glass artists Cliff Maier and Tim Hirneisen. But the final design puts clear silhouettes of a firefighter, a medical responder and a police officer against deep blue fading into deep red stained glass.
They're clear, Maier said, "partly because you see right through them and in real life you tend not to think of them until you need them."
"They're kind of transparent," Hirneisen added.
But the individual responders who serve were anything but unrecognized as individuals to those in attendance.
"All of our nation's defenders, including firefighters, emergency medical technicians and law enforcement personnel can find comfort in knowing that we protect America's communities as best as we humanly can," said Richard Flinn Jr., the director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, and a first responder since he was 15 years old.
"I encourage you to pause and say thank you to those who, without fail, show up," he added.
The shrine's unveiling was the finale to the yearly Court of Valor veterans ceremony. This year, the names of 15 men were added to the court's pillars to bring the total number of honorees to 355.
"These individuals were different," said Harold Redding, a retired Army first sergeant, in his military address. "Different in that they experienced something that most have not and hopefully will never experience."
To be honored, each veteran had to have been awarded valor medals, from the Bronze Star on up, said Jack Sommer, the president of the Prospect Hill Cemetery Heritage Foundation.
"All did something or acted in some way that set them apart from others in similar circumstances," Redding said. "All distinguished themselves by their actions against an armed enemy of the United States in the presence of great danger and great personal risk."
JT Hand, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, humanized that sacrifice in his delivery of the Missing Comrades Roll Call.
"During earlier wars, at the close of battle, after the last shots have been fired, after tending the wounded, the company commander or the ship's captain would muster the remaining troops and conduct a roll call," Hand said. "This was a roll call like no other, for when a soldier or a sailor did not respond at this roll call, it meant he had made the supreme sacrifice for his comrades and his country."
He called all veterans in attendance to attention and began to call out their names.
The first four men all responded clearly and passionately with a "Here, sir!"
But there was no response from U.S. Marine Sgt. Michael W. Heede.
He died July 13, 2009, in combat in Afghanistan. A news release from the U.S. Department of Defense two days later said he was 22 years old and from Delta.
Hand received no responses from Petty Officer 1st Class Neil Roberts, killed in action March 4, 2002. He received no response from Army Cpl. Matthew Hanes, who died Aug. 7, 2015.
When allowed to sit down again, those veterans who were able to stand and respond sat back down.
At least one, sitting under a burgundy tent reserved for honorees and family members, wiped away his tears with a white handkerchief.
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