Jackson Free Press

The Pink Heals Tour comes to the Mississippi State Fire Academy in Pearl on Wednesday, Sept. 23. Dave Graybill, a former professional athlete and retired firefighter, founded Pink Heals, a nonprofit organization that raises awareness and funds for families battling cancer, in 2007. Wednesday's stop marks the first time the tour has come to Jackson. As executive director of the Mississippi State Fire Academy, Reggie Bell is playing host to the upcoming event.

Bell, 60, has served as executive director of the academy for nine years. He first came to the academy in 1992 as a staff instructor after serving for eight years with the fire department in Starkville, Miss., starting in 1984. He has also been serving as an instructor for the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Md., since 1998. Over the course of his career, Bell has instructed firefighters in 36 states on handling arson, fire investigation and emergency response to terrorism involving fires.

Currently a Brandon resident, Bell was born in Starkville and attended Starkville High School. After graduation, he enrolled at William Carey College, now William Carey University, in Hattiesburg in 1974 with the intent to get a business degree, but after a year, he dropped out and entered the Mississippi National Guard. He served in the guard for 23 years as a fire support specialist for an artillery battalion before retiring from service in 1997. The guard activated his battalion for Operation Desert Storm in 1990 but never actually sent Bell's group abroad. He ended up at Camp Shelby in Jackson in 1991 instead. Bell started working at the Mississippi State Fire Academy a year later. Serving as an instructor at the academy requires seven years experience in fire service and a specific level of firefighting training, which Bell undertook at the National Fire Academy while serving in the National Guard.

Bell said that his decision to enter the National Guard and serve as a firefighter instead of attending college in part stemmed from his father and grandfather, John A. Bell and R.M. Bell, who both served in the U.S. Army as sergeants.

"My father and grandfather were both patriots, and I both felt and saw a need for service as a patriot myself," Bell said. "As a boy, I was both fascinated and inspired when I saw fire trucks heading to the scene of a fire to help people. I got into service so I could help people in their time of need, as well. There's nothing more gratifying than lending a helping hand when someone is having the worst day of their lives. That's what this service is all about. The commitment to service is why we're supporting Pink Heals. ... Pink Heals represents a very needed cause, and we want to do anything we can to help them in their efforts."

The Pink Heals tour features several pink fire trucks that firefighters wearing pink turnout gear drive. The Pink Fire Trucks are named after women and children who are battling cancer or who have died from cancer. Anyone whom cancer has touched in any way is invited to sign the fire trucks at Pink Heals events.

Bell and his wife, Cookie, have been married 29 years and have three children: daughter Jacque Kinard, who lives in Starkville, daughter Rhonda Ledbetter, who lives in Aberdeen, Miss., and son Glen Ledbetter, who lives in Columbus, Miss.

Wednesday's Pink Heals event will feature a press conference with Graybill and several cancer survivors and is open to media and the public. For more information, contact the Mississippi State Fire Academy (1 Fire Academy Road, Pearl, 601-932-2444) or Pink Heals at 602-350-2646.