El Paso de Robles Chapter, NSDAR Presents Local Fire Departments with 9/11 Flags

The Daughters of the American Revolution handed out five 9/11 flags last week 

NORTH COUNTY — The El Paso de Robles Chapter, NSDAR (Daughters of the American Revolution), presented local fire departments with flags commemorating 9/11 last week. On Thursday, Sept. 8, the DAR thanked both Fire Stations 1 and 2 in Atascadero, the Templeton Fire Department, and Shandon Fire Department for their service by presenting them with the flags. And on Friday, Sept. 9, they headed to the Paso Robles Fire Department to do the same.

“We chose to do this because, well, first and foremost, we’re patriots, and we want to celebrate the job and responsibility the fire departments do,” said Regent Susan Howard. “And we also want to honor for Patriot’s Day the fallen firefighters, the fallen policemen, and support our local fire departments in letting them know that we support them, we revere them, we honor them every day of our lives.”

The Daughters of the American Revolution are dedicated to preserving history, honoring patriots of the Revolutionary War, and making sure that the patriots of today are also celebrated.

“We’re just thankful for groups like this that still believe in patriotism and want to serve our country. That’s our mission, to serve the citizens of Atascadero and groups like this that partner with us in that cause,” stated Atascadero’s Fire Battalion Chief of Operations Matt Miranda. “We’re just super thankful to be able to hang out with them [the ladies of the DAR] and meet them and be able to share these flags with them.”

El Paso de Robles Chapter, NSDAR members Susan Clark, Regent Susan Howard, Lida Lucas, Sue Hayes, Betsy Beatty, and Linda Wood made up the group who headed out to hand out the commemorative flags. They also had many words of thanks to give the fire departments in the North County.

“It’s very comforting knowing that, despite the hot weather and how busy we are as a fire service that, we have these women coming over and providing us with a flag that’s symbolic to not just the fire service but the whole country,” said Templeton Fire Capt. Andrew Klein. “We have to constantly remember that life is fragile and we never know what’s going to happen and the only way to make it through dark times is with the support of everyone coming together. We can’t all do this alone; it has to be a community and a team effort.”

He went on to say that the DAR ladies bringing the 9/11 flag made the fire department feel supported and grateful and that it’s important to never forget our history.

“It’s beautiful. It’s a beautiful show of support for us, not only here in Paso Robles but across the nation and those who have given all in their service to the citizens of not only Paso Robles’s but all over the United States and throughout the world. Reunited in a sense and we thank them for that beautiful contribution,” said Jason Cox, fire captain for the day at Paso Robles Fire Department.