By TAYLOR BROWN
The U.S. Honor Flag has arrived in Rostraver Township to honor Matthew Smelser, a local paramedic, father and friend to many who was killed in the line of duty while working to save lives Sunday morning.
Smelser, 43, of Carroll Township was killed while responding to a crash on Interstate 70. He was struck by a tractor trailer after getting out of his ambulance to help a victim in a vehicle crash near the Smithton exit.
In addition to hundreds of first responders who are traveling to the Mon Valley for his funeral procession, the U.S. Honor Flag will be part of the ceremony.
The flag, which traditionally rests at the head of fallen heroes’ caskets, got its start when Chris Heisler led the nation’s largest convoy of first responders to Ground Zero following 9/11.
Heisler was given an American flag and a Texas flag by the Texas House of Representatives. He left one flag for those who lost their lives and brought the American flag back home with him to ensure no one would forget that day.
In 2003, at age 34, he joined the U.S. Army and took the flag to the battlegrounds of Iraq and Afghanistan.
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