Remembering Our Fallen Friends – An Appropriate Response
Recently the Addison, Texas, Fire Department dedicated a memorial plaza outside
their Central Station. I had written an article some years back about the
loss of Steve Webb, and that caused the Dallas newspaper to contact me
upon this dedication. Included here you will see both the article I wrote,
and the recent news article.
Many of you will be able to identify with the article, because you have
been there, too. We are not just remembering Fallen Firefighters . . . these
are our Fallen Friends.
This first friend to die in the line of duty was within the first three
years of my paid firefighting career. The last one was since I’ve been
here at FETN with the LODD of Chris DeWolf. Oh how I hope that remains the
last one.
What is my response to these deaths? Some of you might have noticed the
significant commitment FETN has made to firefighter safety. That is a direct
effort to join with anyone we can to help reduce the number of these friend’s
funerals.
How about your response? You should first make a commitment about your own
safety, and then become a missionary carrying the message about how we should
watch out for each other, including prompting each other into habits that
promote our safety.
Won’t you join me?
"Why do I keep bustin' my tail?!"
How many times have you heard one of your coworkers say that?
How many times have you asked it? This expletive jumps out when
things aren’t going well, when events don’t go our
way even though we’ve given our best, and when we have
just lost the wind in our sails.
I can remember the time when I heard this phrase that was probably the most
impactful of my life. I was a young firefighter, and an EMS instructor, teaching
classes with members of neighboring departments enrolled, besides my own.
Days after finishing a basic class, I got the first firefighter-fatality
phone call of my career... one of my students, who was now also a friend
and brother, was electrocuted while fighting a grass fire. It was the old
high-tension-wire-close-to-the-pole-so-you-can’t-see-it death trap
that had claimed his life.
Stunned, I did what so many firefighters do: I drifted to his station. There
were other well wishers there, doing what they could to comfort the firefighters
in that department. The fallen firefighter’s PPE was lying in the floor
of the station, having been retrieved from the scene; you can imagine its
condition. Randal, along with the rest of his department, was grieved to
the bone. He picked up the remains of the helmet, and hurled them across
the bay, shouting the words captured in the title above. Then he just broke
down and cried. I did, too.
Why do we keep bustin’ it? Because that’s what we do. Not for
the pay, not for the glory, not for anything, except the indescribable pleasure
of helping someone when they can’t help themselves. I feel sorry for
the humans on this planet that have never experienced that. There’s
not enough money to pay for the real value of what we do, and there’s
not enough money to replace the rewarding experience of making a difference
in a fellow human beings’ life.
Sometimes I realize that the wind has gone from my sails, too. I’ve
learned a valuable lesson, though: only I can restore it. Change your focus,
change what you’re dwelling on, and concentrate on what you can change.
It is amazing how in a short amount of time, a gentle breeze is felt, followed
by plenty of wind.
Today, Steve Webb is honored by a memorial in the Addison Fire Department’s
Central Station. I haven’t heard from Randal Howard since he called
me to see if I was interested in going to Kuwait to fight the oil fires set
during the war, but I understand he is no longer in the fire service. And
here I am, still bustin’ it, working with this team at FETN, trying
to make a difference.
How about you? Are you still bustin’ it, or are you coasting? A wise
man once said that life is not worth living until you have something worth
dying for. I know what he means. Because when you find life that invigorating,
you’ll do all you can to stay alive while you live it to the fullest.
Why?
Because that’s what we do.
 |
Chief Geo. Randy Corbin
VP, Government Solutions Group
TWL Knowledge Group
Randy.Corbin@TWLK.com
972-309-5701, 800-624-2272, ext. 5701
|
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