Letter to the Editor

Family praises community of heroes

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

To the editor:

How do you, how could you, ever find the words to thank a community of heroes who worked to rescue our son, Frank McCarty, and his friend Justin Martin from the depths of a huge grain bin?

The heroes put themselves in extreme danger without thought of their own safety to save these two men. They never stopped. They never slowed down and many were continuously giving us updates and trying to comfort our fears.

Osceola and Blytheville fire departments, Osceola Police Department, state troopers, county Sheriff's Department and deputies, Mississippi County first responders and local businesses all rushed to the scene to offer any help they could give.

The McCarty family can't thank enough the area farmers and friends who came to our aid in a most desperate time and helped remove the grain from the tank so that Frank and Justin could be rescued.

Words can't describe how we feel about all of these people.

The term "salt of the earth" best describes a community who would drop everything to race to the scene in spite of the danger to save two lives.

Even after that longest of days, farmers and local businesses came back for two full days to help with the cleanup.

There is no way we can ever thank everyone for helping make our Christmas miracle happen.

All of the prayers from the churches and our friends -- even many people we don't know -- comforted and strengthened us to this day.

The McCarty family hopes this Christmas was made even more meaningful to everyone involved. It certainly was for us!

God bless our community and Happy New Year.

The family of Frank Edrington McCarty