Pocono News Section

Firefighters From All Over East Coast Attend Funeral

Firefighters From All Over East Coast Attend Funeral - Thursday, January 10, 2008 at 7:21PM EST

Reported by: Eric Deabill
Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 @07:21pm EST
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY - Roughly 2,000 people turned out Thursday morning to honor a Scranton firefighter who died in the line of duty. More than 700 people packed Saint Patrick's Church, while hundreds more stood in the streets to say a final farewell.

Firefighters from as far away as Canada and South Carolina were among those who came out for the service. Most had never met Captain James Robeson, who died Sunday morning while fighting a fire on Ash Street, but they said it didn't matter. They say the tradition of being a firefighter brought them together.

As the flag-draped casket of Captain Robeson made its final journey, his fellow Scranton firefighters marched solemnly behind.

"It's a solemn day and we just want to be here in support of our brother, who lost his life fighting that fire," Joe McLean of the Pittston Fire Department said.

From Connecticut to the Carolinas, Virginia to Vermont, the firefighters all shared a common bond, a brotherhood.

"It's like one big family, no matter where the department is, where you're from," Captain Scott White from the Endicott, New York Fire Department said.

"We realize that it could be anytime, any one of us and we really do understand the service we provide for our communities," Assistant Chief Dan Potter of the Hemlock Farms Fire Department in Pike County said.

At Captain Robeson's gravesite, a bell signalled the loss that a family and community now share.

"If it was just a new guy with six months on the job, the feeling would be the same for us, that it's one of our brothers and somebody we need to honor," Chief Henry Michalovic of the Johnson City, New York Fire Department said.

"This just goes to show, truely what a wondeful vocation firefighting is, when you see so many people from all over the country, coming here to honor him," Scranton Public Safety Director Ray Hayes said.

As bagpipers brought the funeral service to a close, Jim Robeson's family received the flag that donned his casket. It was a moment that brought grown men to tears.

"It's okay for men to cry and women to cry when you lose a brother, because you understand it's just not today, the family has lost a loved one, a father won't be home tonight," McLean said.