For 17 years, David Rosa served the Long Beach community as a first responder with the city’s fire department before being killed by a gunman while on a call in 2018.
Today, his name is one of 44 forever etched in front of City Hall’s fire and police memorial, which honors the city’s service members who have died in the line of duty and highlights the dangers they face.
“True love is selfless, it is prepared to sacrifice,” LBFD Chief Xavier Espino said during the annual ceremony held in front of City Hall Tuesday morning. “When a person is willing to sacrifice their life for their friends and family… there is no greater expression of love.”
Dozens of city officials and employees, along with families and friends of those who died in the line of duty were in attendance as fire bells bellowed across Downtown with each name that was read aloud, followed by a 21-gun salute in which seven officers fired blanks into the air.
“When those we call to serve die in the line of duty, we are collectively shaken, but we remain resilient,” Long Beach Police Chief Wally Hebeish said during opening remarks. “That’s what this memorial and today’s ceremony represent: resilience, pride, service and community.”
This was the first in-person ceremony since the city installed the new fire and police memorial in front of City Hall in late 2019. Last year, organizers held an official ceremony for the memorial but it was hosted mostly as a virtual event due to COVID-19 restrictions.
A previous obelisk-like memorial dedicated to the fire and police departments originally stood near the old City Hall, but it was taken down during the demolition of the old council chambers.
The new memorial, which was approved by the City Council in May 2019, is made up of small triangles meant to look like folded flags, engraved with the names of 14 fire and 29 police service members who have died in the line of duty since each department’s inception in Long Beach. A flag folded 13 times over in the form of a triangle is traditionally given to the families of those who have died in the line of service.
“We know that our brave public safety officers are always running towards danger, are always helping people,” Mayor Robert Garcia said. “This tribute, of course, has been put together to honor all of our firefighters and our police officers that we have lost and as a community, it’s our responsibility to always remember their incredible service to our country and to our city.”
‘We love you immensely’: Long Beach mourns Capt. David Rosa at vigil