SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - American Medical Response in Springfield is helping honor fallen EMS workers as part of a 9,000 mile national journey.

On Monday, a Moving Honors procession stopped outside City Hall featuring a specially wrapped ambulance carrying the Tree of Life from Redding, California to Arlington, Virginia.

The Tree of Life bears the names of first responders killed in the line of duty and will be formally unveiled at the national EMS memorial service.

AMR paramedic Megan Haverkamp is part of this year’s escort crew traveling with Chief Ted E. Bear. She says the moving honors helps families get closure no matter how old the member is.

“Each kiddo at the service gets a bear in hopes it brings them comfort.,” she said. “They don’t always realize what’s going on. They just know there’s a missing puzzle piece of their life. So the team and I get to create a story for them. And then at the weekend of honor, they receive a bear of their own. And then we get to tell a story about what the bear did. And we get to tell them that their loved ones will always be remembered. And that they were a hero.”

A replica Tree of Life will be on display in Springfield giving the community a chance to pause, reflect, and honor the fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters who never came home from a call.

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