Dallas Firefighters honored the memory of one of their fallen by holding a special parade for his daughter’s college graduation.
The parade was held over the weekend for the new graduate who’s dad died while serving the department almost 19 years ago. Breyana Moore-Davis lost her dad when she was only a few years old, her dad, Vincent Davis, was killed when he responded to a six-alarm apartment building fire in Oak Cliff, a neighborhood in Dallas, as told by Milton Williams, a retired firefighter and family friend.
Breyana Moore-Davis graduated from the University of North Texas with a degree in forensic psychology in three years which called for a good celebration. Her mom and Williams got together with a plan where Williams rallied firefighters and EMS workers for a parade by her home.
What a day!!!!! I was ask how is it that firefighters are able to still remember and honor those that fallen several…
Posted by Milton Williams on Saturday, December 12, 2020
The parade saw many fire trucks and other vehicles from Fire Station 26 and the Grand Prairie Fire Department on Saturday, driving through the 22-year-old’s locality honking their horns and blasting their sirens, waving and cheering. Many retired and active firefighters also participated in their own cars to celebrate her achievement.
Williams gave credit for the whole parade to her family and various community members. “That is ‘rest easy, we got it from here,'” he said, which means, firefighters will take care of your family for as long as they can, and “when firefighters say that, they mean that,” he said. Breyana Moore-Davis looked on at the parade in “utter amazement” along with her family and three siblings; Kiara Cotton, Brittany Smith and Vince Davis Jr.
Williams said that no amount of money or “I’m sorries” can make it up to someone who has lost someone. By holding these kinds of events, help keep the family connected to their dad, he said, and also his legacy alive, more especially for those who did not know him. “When we do something like this, it just serves the purpose to let them know that first of all, we haven’t forgotten about your dad,” he said.
Vincent Davis was a firefighter and a medic, and also an All-American high jumper from Illinois State University preparing for the 1980 Olympics, according to Williams which did not happen as the US boycotted the Summer Olympic Games in Moscow to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Breyana Moore-Davis now wants to go to graduate school and work towards her doctorate degree.