(WSIL) -- Firefighters, police, EMS, and people from all over southern Illinois came out to pay respects to Officer Brian Pierce.
A procession of dozens of emergency service members drove from Madison County to Herrin, Illinois, a more than two hour drive, to make sure Officer Pierce was brought to the funeral home.
In West Frankfort, crews from all over came to show solidarity.
West Frankfort police and fire departments as well as emergency services from Jackson County came to watch the procession.
Those in Franklin County Friday tell News 3, it was time to honor Officer Pierce for the sacrifice he made.
"Today is one of those days that you come out to make sure that you honor the memory of a person who was a public safety servant, a gentleman who was a police officer and a firefighter and worked in EMS and this is what our brotherhood and sisterhood is about. When tragedy strikes, we come together to make sure that person is properly honored," said Franklin County's Emergency Response Director Ryan M. Buckingham.
"It's kinda a show of solidarity, if nothing else. One of the greatest things you can do in life is lay down your life for somebody else, trying to protect your community. or trying to protect somebody in that community. And as first responders in the public safety world, we just want to let the family know that we see that and we honor that and we support that and we wanna show them that we're here for them, no matter what," Captain Gary Little of the West Frankfort Fire Department said.
Many in Mount Vernon also showed their support.
"When you get a community that can pull together, you know, just by standing on an overpass, some people might not think it shows much but to myself, who is in a law enforcement family, it shows a lot and the support for their family as well," said Jennifer Gaines, the wife of a police officer.
The first responders all said what they did today was not about them.
They said the procession was done to honor Officer Pierce's sacrifice and to honor his family.
