CARTERVILLE, Ill. (WSIL) -- Drivers in Williamson County can expect to see a lot of red, white and blue this weekend in honor of a fallen officer with ¾ÅÓÎÌåÓý Illinois ties.
A group called plans to place around 2,500 flags along the funeral route for officer The group's CEO is Jeff Hastings, who took over after founder Larry Eckhardt died of cancer in March 2020. The group's is to honor fallen first responders and those in uniform.
Since Hastings took over, the group has performed 36 missions across eight states. Thursday will mark mission 37. Hastings says all the memorials are alike in the grief, love and support displayed. However, they're different, Hastings says, because of the way each local hero touched their community.
Hastings likened the missions to projects that provide avenues for communities to pay their respects. Hastings hopes Pierce's dedication to serve can inspire volunteers to come out and place flags in his honor.
"His support is going to be enormous or at least we hope it will. We know it will because Americans are great, Americans are proud and Americans want to help," Hastings said.
Those interested in volunteering can meet Hastings at the John A. Logan College parking lot Thursday at 5pm. Hastings says the more volunteers who show up the faster it can get done. The group also needs volunteers to take down the flags. Volunteers can meet at the college parking lot Sunday at Noon. Volunteers can call 618-409-0323.
Hastings says the group has 2,977 flags, one for each victim of the September 11 attacks. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks in New York City.
The funeral route begins at John A Logan College and turns onto Greenbriar Road before heading onto eastbound Route 13. The procession turns onto northbound Route 148 for five miles until it reaches Herrin Road. There the procession makes the final left turn to Cambria Road ahead of the final turn to Blairsville Cemetery.
Earlier Wednesday, a vigil in Granite City honored Pierce a week after his death. Brooklyn (Ill.) Police Chief Thomas Jeffery says the tragedy behind Pierce's death is that it happened on his day off.
"The night Brian was tragically taken from us wasn't even his scheduled shift He came in. He did not want one of his fellow officers to be out there at night," Jeffrey said. "I thought Brian was older than he was because of the maturity I saw in him."
Officer Pierce was 24-years old. Last Friday, a carried Pierce's body from Madison County to Williamson County. happens Friday with the funeral following on Saturday at 11 a.m. A layout for the funeral procession route can be found below.
Procession route for Brian Pierce Jr.'s funeral
