By 
March 11, 2026
The words can get a little sideways in Corey Robinson’s throat sometimes.
They should. When he speaks about the Huntsville Fire & Rescue (HFR) Honor Guard, they absolutely should.
“Whenever I talk to a family, a lot of times I get choked up because I can see myself sitting on the opposite side of that,” Robinson said.
The story of the HFR Honor Guard is a tender one that, for Robinson, binds generations. A captain at HFR and an Honor Guard commander, he can perhaps best tell the story.
“It kind of hits close to home,” he began.
Nine firefighters died fighting a fire in 2007 at the Sofa Super Store in Charleston, S.C. The tragedy resonated across the fire service.
Robinson’s father, David, was among those touched. An HFR firefighter at the time, he joined a group from Huntsville that traveled to Charleston for the funeral.
“While they were there, they saw all the different honor guards from across the country that were present, supporting those families and those firefighters for that community,” Corey said. “And that just kind of struck a chord with them. So my dad came back and began developing an honor guard for Huntsville.”
Chiseled through dedication
An honor guard may be born in an emotional moment but it’s chiseled through dedication and hard work. David Robinson led that effort to re-start one of the most revered units at HFR.
He handpicked the first members – “We do kind of hold the guys in the Honor Guard to a standard,” his son said – and beyond the drill work, there was devotion to supporting families in their worst times.
A year later, HFR’s revitalized Honor Guard appeared at its first funeral.
“They put six of the Honor Guard guys together in one Crown Vic, shoulder to shoulder, and drove to that first event,” Corey said. “And it kind of kicked off from there. And so through the years, we’ve grown.
“And my dad was able to get a fire truck, a 1978 American LaFrance. And we’ve outfitted it to where it will hold a casket in the back, and it has the mechanisms to accommodate everything. And that’s where a lot of our retired firefighters take their last ride.”
Including David Robinson in 2013. He died of cancer that is considered a death in the line of duty. He was 52.
“I was directly impacted by the Honor Guard as they stood guard over my dad and his last moments, and he took that last ride,” Corey said. “So it means a little bit more to me every time we go do this.”
‘Face of the department’
Corey refers to the Honor Guard founded by his father as the “face of the department.”
“We are the ones at the parades,” he said. “Anytime you’re seeing a flag hung from a truck, usually somebody from the Honor Guard is there facilitating that. And then anytime a retired or active-duty firefighter passes away, we perform funeral rites if the family requests.”
That’s what you see.
This is what you don’t: “We also support the family,” Corey said. “I go to the funeral home with them whenever they meet with the funeral director. We talk them through everything that we do and so they’ve got somebody beside them through the whole process. It’s about walking them through a difficult journey – not just a show, so to speak. There are a lot of behind the scene things that happen.
“If they want me to go pick them up McDonald’s, then that’s what I’m going to go do. It’s about supporting those families and supporting our brothers and sisters.”
