BUTTE – It was an emotional ceremony for the opening day on Friday of the Butte Exchange Club’s Field of Honor in which first responders, law enforcement, and veterans were honored.
“I work with heroes every single day, I always amazed with the quality of our first responders here in our city and throughout the state of Montana,” said Butte Sheriff Ed Lester.
Broadwater County Sheriff Wynn Meehan could barely contain his emotions when he talked about the sacrifices law enforcement make, including the loss of his own deputy Mason Moore last year in a shootout.
“He was a father, a hell of a good deputy, fireman, EMT, loved his country and his community and the evil that resides in this world took him from us way too early,” Meehan said.
The crowd heard heartfelt testimony from law enforcement, first responders, and veterans. Patriotic music was played to honor the people that served this country. Friends and loved ones placed the names of personal heroes on the 1,000 flags displayed in this field next to the Belmont Mine.
Among the flags in this field is a ring of flags recognizing the number of reported cases of child abuse and neglect in the county. Alarmingly, there are 245 names in this ring, which is almost more than triple the average.
“It was hard, it’s even hard to go stand in the center of that field, you feel the emotion, it’s almost overwhelming, we’ve got to do a better job,” said Butte Exchange Club member Cindi Farrar.
The Butte Exchange Club will use money raised during this event to go to charities such as child abuse prevention.
