Remember
DEPARTMENTS
EDITOR’S OPINION
What is a hero?
America’s list is usually made up of individuals who “rise to the occasion” presented at a moment in time. They surface unknowingly in reaction to an unplanned incident. It’s an unusual phenomenon at best.
But when is it not unusual?
The American fire service is the last bastion of heroes-by-routine. It’s routine to run into chaotic and dangerous situations that most of America would try to run out of.
1 know this may seem to be a selfish opinion for me to hold, but hold it I will. If there’s anything that bothers me about the statement, it’s the word routine. It may be in our interest to prepare ourselves for the possibility of injury and death as a matter of routine, but it seems the public we serve is accepting firefighter injury and death themselves as routine.
I still remember a seasoned cynic remarking, “Son, if you put your hand in a pail of water and pull it out, the hole remaining is about all the difference you make after you leave the ‘job.’ “
Bull! It must be false if we are to believe in our worth, our cause, and our sacrifices. We must remember to remember the lives that have passed through before us—those who completed the journey whole and those who were cut down by the enemy they battled for the protection of others.
Religion teaches us that a man can have no greater love than he lay down his life for his friend. We must pause and remember this, and them, often—especially on the day set aside to memorialize fallen firefighters. That day—this year it was designated as October 11—is one we should set aside to stand together and remember. It is right that we stand together, exclusive, to share our grief and our loss with our brothers and sisters so we and the public we serve will never forget.
At present, our day of memorial is renewed and arbitrarily scheduled by proclamation each year. But I’m sure with some prodding from you all, our national government can make it a permanent annual event proclaiming our day of memory and sorrow as routine so we all may plan and share at the same moment in every corner of our fire service world—so that when all those fists are raised from all those pails of water, there will be holes that remain to make a difference.
