That was his number, and it was retired the day they put him in the ground.

Surviving nearly a month in critical condition in the hospital, my granddad died Sunday and was buried on Wednesday. He was a volunteer firefighter down in Texas and was ejected from his truck after it roled twice. Two other men were in the truck with him and they both survived luckily.
Half the church was full of firefighters on Wednesday, and they said good-by to him by giving him his final call, saluting him, and playing amazing grace on the bagpipes(his favorite gospel song). I've never seen so many people gathered for one man's funeral. It was a beautiful funeral, even though that's weird to say.

In my eyes the man was a true hero, dying to protect others, and I just wanted to share a little bit of him with others, but I also need to get this out of my system so that I can get over the loss. Sorry.