What is a Firefighter?

He is the guy next door - a man's man with the memory

of a little boy. He has never gotten over the excitement

of engines and sirens and danger.

He is a guy like you and me with wants and worries and

unfulfilled dreams.

Yet he stands taller than most of us.

He is a firefighter.

He puts it all on the line when the bell rings.

A firefighter is at once the most fortunate and the least

fortunate of men.

He is a man who saves lives because he has seen too

much death.

He is a gentle man because he has seen the awesome

power of violence out of control.

He is responsive to a child's laughter because his arms

have held too many small bodies that will never laugh

again.

He is a man who appreciates the simple pleasures of life

- hot coffee held in numb, unbending fingers - a warm

bed for bone and muscle compelled beyond feeling - the

camaraderie of brave men - the divine peace and selfless

service of a job  well done in the name of all men.

He doesn't wear buttons or wave flags or shout

obscenities.

When he marches, it is to honor a fallen comrade.

He doesn't preach the brotherhood of man.

He lives it.

Author Unknown

  Taken from the 50th Anniversary Add Journal 2002

This poem goes back a long way and a time when only boys were though of being firefighters. In today's world we do have girls that have become firefighters and officers.

May God Bless Them All...