The Bureau of Land Management Honor Guard is a team of uniformed employees who display honor and appreciation for those men and women who give so much to the fire management mission.   It is a way to pay tribute to those who die in the line of duty and recognize their loved ones, friends and coworkers.  This team will attend funeral, memorial services and other special events in honor of the BLM and its partner agency employees. 

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2010 Fallen Firefighters Week

The Bureau of Land Management National Fire Honor Guard annually participates in the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend at Emmitsburg, Maryland. Each October, thousands of surviving family members – children, spouses, parents, siblings and more – gather along with Honor Guards and others to honor those firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty during the previous year. This year’s ceremony, held at the National Fallen Firefighters Monument on the grounds of the National Emergency Training Center, was particularly meaningful for BLM Honor Guard members who honored friend and colleague Brett Stearns, engine captain for Colorado’s Little Snake Field Office. Stearns lost his life when he was struck by a falling tree during a hazard reduction project near Craig, Colorado in 2009.

BLM Honor Guard member Tommy Hayes escorts Joy Stearns, widow of Colorado BLM firefighter Brett Stearns, during the National Fallen Firefighter Memorial Service October 3, 2010 in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

Honor Guard member Jenny Camp prepares to be relieved after standing guard over the eternal flame at the National Fallen Firefighter Memorial in Emmitsburg Maryland.

2010 BLM National Fire Honor Guard members on the roof of the Main Interior Building. Current members include, left to right, Vanessa Marquez, Andy Rothleutner, Tommy Hayes, Juan Zepeda, Lamar Liddell, Gary Helming, Chris Delaney (Honor Guard Field Operations Chief), Shannon Myers, Cliff Hutton, Jenny Camp, and Todd Richardson.

BLM Honor Guard members participate in a wreath laying ceremony with sentinels at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. Laying of the Honor Guard wreath is an annual exercise while the group is in Washington D.C. for the Fallen Firefighters Memorial.

BLM Honor Guard members honor one of their own in a private ceremony to refold a World War II flag that once graced the casket of a relative of member Andy Rothleutner. In the 56 years since the war, the flag had become unfolded and Andy carried it to Washington, D.C. where fellow Honor Guard members helped refold it in a private gathering at the World War II Monument. Members include, left to right, Todd Richardson, Juan Zepeda, Gary Helming, Andy Rothleutner (holding flag), Cliff Hutton (holding the Purple Heart medal), Lamar Liddell, Tommy Hayes, and Shannon Myers.

Honor Guard member Tommy Hayes salutes the casket flag that was refolded at the World War II Monument as a measure of respect for fellow member Andy Rothleutner.