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Fire Station 25’s patriotic truck pays homage to local soldiers

By Bruce Hope bruce@opcfla.com
Posted 4/7/21

CAMP BLANDING – It doesn’t take much looking to see that Clay County is extremely military friendly. The county has numerous veterans, the City of Green Cove Springs holds several events honoring …

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Fire Station 25’s patriotic truck pays homage to local soldiers


Posted

CAMP BLANDING – It doesn’t take much looking to see that Clay County is extremely military friendly. The county has numerous veterans, the City of Green Cove Springs holds several events honoring veterans and is the home of the TAPS Memorial. Camp Blanding is also in the county and is home to many active duty and reserve service men and women. Many personnel assigned to Naval Air Station Jacksonville live in Clay County. Veterans are truly respected and honored.

With that respect, appreciation for veterans is shown every day and in different ways throughout the county. One of those ways is by Fire Station 25, which is located at Camp Blanding.

Fire trucks are usually painted red and gold or red and white, to be easily seen from a distance as they go about their life and property-saving duties.

For more than one year now, one of the engines at Station 25 however, has a completely different look to it.

This particular fire engine has a special design and is wrapped in images to honor the men and women who serve in the Florida National Guard. The theme of the truck is “Protecting Those Who Serve.”

One side features a fighter jet, and the other side features a military land vehicle.

“Clay County is proud to offer fire and rescue services to the Camp Blanding Joint Training Center located in the Kingsley Lake area, encompassing the 73,000-acre post,” said then-acting fire chief David Motes.

Camp Blanding provides a large training area for U.S. government, military, and local units. It also hosts personnel from other nations and communities to cross-train with American and local forces.

The Florida National Guard’s motto is “Right…Ready…Relevant.” The specially designed fire engine from Station 25 exemplifies that theme.

“Clay County is honored to protect those military service members that protect all of us,” Motes said.

The engine was unveiled at the station on April 3, 2020.