By Rick Ryckeley
Fayette County Fire & Emergency Services

Over three hundred modern day knights lost their lives when the World Trade Center came down. These are truly times of great adversity. For as long as I can remember, in times of adversity my father said to me, "Son, you need to be brave in the face of adversity and wear a badge of courage."

Being a boy all of six years old when my brother died, I tried to understand what he had said to me as I wiped the tears from my eyes. I told him that I understood, even though I didn't have a clue as to what he was talking about. It was not until years later when, as a member of the fire department, I heard that saying again and understood.

The badge has gone by many names: The "Red Badge of Courage," a "Badge of Honor," or you might have even heard it called a "Badge of Bravery." By any of these names, the badge has a special meaning to those of us who wear it every day.

The story of the badge is believed to be hundreds of years old, dating back to the time when the world was young and things were simpler. It was a time of kings and queens, a time of knights and crusades. A time when wars were fought on horseback, rather than by pushing a button.

Back in the day, knights who went to war for their king were known as crusaders, and it was while on one of those crusades that the meaning of the badge would be changed forever. A courageous and brave band of knights set off to fight for their king and ended up in the history books. As the legend goes, the young men belonged to an elite group of European fighters known as the Knights of St. John.

The Knights of St. John had a bitter enemy known as the Saracens. Both were in a war for the possession of the Holy Land. It was during one of the battles that the Saracens used a weapon not yet known to the European warriors. The Saracens had discovered Naphtha!

They filled glass beakers with this new, highly volatile, sticky substance. When the Knights of St. John advanced on the walls of the city, the Saracens hurled the glass bombs into their midst. As the glass bombs struck the courageous band of crusaders, they became saturated with the liquid. The sticky substance covered the heavy armor that they wore. This new weapon was simple, effective, and soon to become horrible when the Saracens added fire.

The Saracens used catapults to propel flaming torches among the unknowing Knights of St. John. Hundreds of the brave knights were killed, as they burned alive. Many others risked their lives and died in efforts to save their brothers in arms from this painful and fiery death. But the heavy armor and intense fire proved to be too much of an adver sary for the brave knights. The Knights of St. John retreated, losing the battle but not losing the war.

The Knights of St. John finally drove back the Saracens, eventually won the war and lived on for another four centuries after that battle. Those brave knights, who risked their lives in and effort to save their brothers, became the first in a long list of courageous men and women known today as firefighters. Their heroic efforts of long ago lives on today, even though most firefighters are not familiar with the legend.

The Knights of St. John who survived the fiery battle went back to live on the island of Malta. There they were recognized for their heroic efforts by their fellow crusaders and awarded a badge of honor similar to the cross that all firefighters wear on their chests today.

When the over 300 modern day knights are laid to rest in New York, each one will have a "Badge of Courage" pinned on his or her chest: a Maltese Cross. God bless these brave knights and the families they have left behind.

[Rick Ryckeley is employed full-time with Fayette County Fire and Emergency Services.]

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