Moving Honors 2025
Details on the 2025 Moving Honors route are being developed at this time. Please check back after January 1st for a finalized route and schedule. Below you’ll find details on the 2024 Moving Honors.
Moving Honors 2024
Route
| Date | Depart | Arrive |
| 7/5/24 | Seattle, WA | Clackamas, OR |
| 7/5/24 | Clackamas, OR | Coos Bay, OR |
| 7/6/24 | Coos Bay, OR | Brookings, OR |
| 7/7/24 | Brookings, OR | Reno, NV |
| 7/7/24 | Reno, NV | Elko, NV |
| 7/8/24 | Elko, NV | Spanish Fork, UT |
| 7/9/24 | Spanish Fork, UT | Denver, CO |
| 7/10/24 | Denver, CO | Amarillo, TX |
| 7/11/24 | Amarillo, TX | Lewisville, TX |
| 7/12/24 | Tyler, TX | Ruston, LA |
| 7/13/24 | Ruston, LA | Jackson, MS |
| 7/13/24 | Jackson, MS | Summerdale, AL |
| 7/14/24 | Summerdale, AL | Navarre Beach, FL |
| 7/14/24 | Navarre Beach, FL | Tallahassee, FL |
| 7/15/24 | Tallahassee, FL | Savannah, GA |
| 7/15/24 | Savannah, GA | Charleston, SC |
| 7/16/24 | Charleston, SC | Charlotte, NC |
| 7/17/24 | Charlotte, NC | Richmond, VA |
| 7/18/24 | Richmond, VA | Washington, DC |
| 7/19/24 | Washington, DC | Arlington, VA |
| 7/20/24 | Arlington, VA | |
Send pictures and videos captured to ems2honor@gmail.com
Background
Organized in 1928 by Julian Stanley Wise, the Roanoke Lifesaving and First Aid Crew (Virginia) was the first independent, all-volunteer rescue squad in the United States. It is fitting that it was in Roanoke, 30 years ago, that Kevin Dillard founded the National EMS Memorial Service to honor and recognize EMS and air medical providers who died in the line of duty. Kevin realized that while there were memorial services for police and fire professionals, there was no formal recognition of EMS individuals who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service to others. Each year, volunteers build additional sections to add to the temporary memorial, called the Tree of Life, and the names of new honorees are added. At the end of each annual Service, the panels are packed away into storage until the next year.
In 2000, the National EMS Memorial Bike Ride was formed when 10 EMS providers rode their bikes from Boston to the National EMS Memorial Service in Roanoke to raise awareness about the commitment, service, and sacrifice of EMS providers. Today the National EMS Memorial Bike Ride continues to honor EMS personnel by organizing and implementing long distance cycling events that memorialize and celebrate the lives of those who serve every day, those who have become sick or injured while performing their duties and those who have died in the line of duty.
There is no permanent national memorial that recognizes EMS Providers. In 2008 the National EMS Memorial Foundation was formed to change that. In 2018, after a decade of their work, Public Law 115-275 was signed by the President of the United States which exclusively authorizes the National EMS Memorial Foundation to establish a permanent National EMS Memorial in Washington, D.C. to honor, recognize and commemorate: The commitment, service and sacrifice of EMS providers killed, injured or disabled in the line of duty and for all those that have served, currently serve and will continue to serve. They are currently in the Federal approval process to finalize the memorial site and development will then quickly follow.
While all 3 organization’s missions continue individually, they also recognize deep synergies. Since 2015 the National EMS Memorial Service and Weekend of Honor have been held annually in the D.C. area, which organically highlights the work of each of the three organizations and common ground. The National EMS Memorial Service and the National EMS Memorial Bike Ride host the Weekend of Honor and the National EMS Memorial Foundation attends as they continue their tireless work to build a permanent National EMS Memorial in DC.
In 2020, like most in-person gatherings, the National EMS Weekend of Honor, National EMS Memorial Service, and National EMS Memorial Bike Rides were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While valent efforts and virtual events helped to fill the void, the lack of gathering to honor their own was surely palpable within EMS. There were several key takeaways from this used in future plannings.
Revelations
Many in the public and in EMS for that matter are unaware of the Weekend of Honor and of the organizers’ mission. Many have never seen the National EMS Memorial Service, the Tree of Life or ridden in the National EMS Memorial Bike Ride but aspire to.
Those in EMS rose to the occasion throughout the global COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic birthed a burgeoning national awareness of first responders and the never-ending work they do along with a growing understanding of their sacrifices. Sadly, this spotlight is already fading though the demands of first responders are steeper than ever.
The host organizations are 100% led by volunteers and the Weekend of Honor requires hundreds of volunteers, nearly all of whom are active EMS providers in their communities. They, along with families, friends, and colleagues, could not come together in 2020 to grieve and honor the fallen which made the impact of the pandemic more difficult. Having no permanent memorial to visit at another time further complicated this. Organizers also recognized that many families of honorees and volunteers are still unable or unwilling to travel or must remain to work in their communities as staffing gaps continue.
Moving Honors
The past 3 years’ Tree of Life installments were built by Tom and Jenn Liebman at their home near Dallas, TX. As thoughts swirled how to transport this “precious cargo” to D.C. for the Weekend of Honor that first year in Dallas, ideas and dreams turned into a plan when the Weekend of Honor’s legacy sponsor Global Medical Response stepped in with a donated ambulance and staffing for the trek across multiple states. The event was so successful, organizers have repeated each year since with a new and expanded footprint each time. Last year they were excited to take the effort coast-to-coast across the Konos, while plans this year include HI and AK.
Respectfully dubbed Moving Honors, the procession will make its way from AK and HI to the Seattle, WA area to near Dallas, TX where this year’s Tree of Life installment will be loaded and then will continue through multiple additional states to Arlington, VA over multiple days. The Tree of Life will be housed inside this specially decorated ambulance and not removed until it is officially unveiled at the start of the Weekend of Honor. A Tree of Life replica is available for viewing at stops along the way.
The goal of the Moving Honors procession is three-fold. First, is to bring awareness and additional recognition to the honorees. Second, is to provide broader access to the Tree of Life to allow anyone to pay respects plus send messages of hope forward to the honoree families and EMS colleagues at the other end of its journey. And finally in a much smaller capacity, it is an opportunity for fundraising to support the National EMS Memorial Service, allowing it to continue its mission to recognize fallen EMS and air medical individuals and Always Remember.
With the fact in mind that all these efforts are solely funded by private donations, a new opportunity to support this noble work launched this year called the REMEMBERship program. This campaign is a monthly subscription program designed to extend the legacy of honorees, provide a simple mechanism to give financially, and aims to keep the mission sustainable. A limited-edition challenge coin has been minted and will be available in exchange for donations at events along the route.
The ambulance will make various stops along the way. Please see the planned route map and accompanying documents as we develop stop details. While this sacred procession begins in Hawaii and Alaska and the road aspects being in the Seattle area this year, organizers hope that those who visit the Moving Honors ambulance will “fill it” with messages to the honoree families who will be in attendance in Arlington, VA. Leaders with the American Ambulance Association and the Association of Air Medical Services and other industry organizations are supporting the ceremonial procession and assisting with notification of EMS agencies in and nearby the planned route. Various tributes are continuing to develop, including roadside salutes, decorated overpasses, and brief ceremonies at hosted sites. Additional industry organizations that are assisting or will attend the National EMS Memorial Service and Weekend of Honor this year include: the International College of Advanced Practice Paramedics (I-CAPP), National Association of EMS State Officials (NASEMSO), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Office of EMS, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), and the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT).
At every stop along the route there will be opportunities to learn more about and pay respects to the honorees, learn more about the organizations dedicated to honoring EMS providers, witness and photograph the visual representation of the Tree of Life, and to make donations. The Moving Honors will end its journey when it arrives in our nation’s capital on July 18, where a ceremony on congressional grounds is planned. The next day, it will process into Arlington, VA led by the National EMS Memorial Bike Ride, to meet the families of the fallen, officially kicking off the Weekend of Honor.
Details continue to be developed…
About National EMS Memorial Bike Ride
Their mission is to honor EMS personnel by organizing and implementing long distance cycling events that memorialize and celebrate the lives of those who serve every day, those who have become sick or injured while performing their duties, and those who have died in the line of duty. Visit us at www.NEMSMBR.org.
About National EMS Memorial Foundation
Their mission is to build the National EMS Memorial in Washington, D.C. that will commemorate the ongoing commitment, service and sacrifice of the Nation’s Emergency Medical Services providers killed, injured, or disabled in the line of duty and for all those that continue to serve. Visit us at www.emsmemorial.org.
About National EMS Memorial Service
Their mission is to honor those in EMS from air and ground who have made the ultimate sacrifice having died in the line of duty and it is the organization congressionally sanctioned to conduct the annual service. Visit us at www.national-ems-memorial.org.