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IL firefighters end stellar careers by leaving a legacy of true brotherhood
“…It's disheartening and hurtful to be portrayed as the economic destroyers of the community, the ones who work such a short career and live such a wonderfully long retirement at the expense of the people we served - portrayed as something bad, as if our work, lives, careers were some sort of scam we have perpetrated on the community. I guess on a line item in a budget or in a ledger, we are just another number.”
Earlier this year, the Oak Park (IL) Fire Department had laid off several firefighter/paramedics due to budget constraints. One of them is a brother that used to be a part of my crew for years, and is one of those guys that can be described as a “fireman’s fireman”. The Oak Park Fire Department had lost the services of a great guy.
Today, he is back at work in Oak Park, one of two firefighters rehired.
Why?
The honorable and selfless acts of senior firefighters, who decided to hang up the leather early to make room for the outstanding younger guys to carry on in their place.
What an excellent punctuation mark on the fire service careers of these fine men.
Here, in his own words, is an article written by one of those jakes, Rich Wilkie, reflecting on a career with no regrets.
I have just recently retired (after 27 years, two months) a few years early, short of a full 30 years of service. This was in order to effect the return to duty of the five young firefighter paramedics who were laid off last September. I was asked by one of the young firefighters today, "Were the years at the firehouse worth it all? What was your best memory and were there any regrets?"
It was worth every second of it. I would do it for another 27 years standing on my head. But I have already enjoyed a wonderful career serving, and theirs is just beginning. That is enough reason for me to know it's time to go now. Not to mention that this job has taken its toll on my body physically and my spirit emotionally. There are so many good memories and stories; it would be impossible to single out one from the rest. So many challenging and rewarding situations in EMS and fire that you take with you, feeling and knowing you made a difference in someone's life.
It's a package deal, though. You can't just take the good alone. Along with the good, you must carry forever the heartache and pain of the situations where you couldn't change the outcome. You take those with you, too. There's no vocation I can think of that gives you so much, spiritually, for your successful efforts and takes so much away for your failures. That's how we think. We own our successes and failures, whether or not our actions could have possibly changed the outcome. We always want to help, save, rescue and succeed, and if we don't, we feel responsible. We feel we've failed. That is why there is such a bond between us, "our band of brothers."
It takes a special type of person to do what we do. We can't do it alone; we need each other. Most people don't really know or understand what is required from us and the toll it takes on us to do the work we do. Only those of us who do this work can understand what it is like to be us. A lifetime decision to willingly and without reservation give your life to help and protect the community you serve. It may sound cliché, but that's the oath that every firefighter takes when he or she takes on this vocation.
It's disheartening and hurtful to be portrayed as the economic destroyers of the community, the ones who work such a short career and live such a wonderfully long retirement at the expense of the people we served - portrayed as something bad, as if our work, lives, careers were some sort of scam we have perpetrated on the community. I guess on a line item in a budget or in a ledger, we are just another number.
But in my heart - and I hope in the hearts of the community in which I've lived, grown up, raised my children and served for 27 years - me and all my brother and sister firefighters are more than that. Your successes are ours and your losses are ours, too. Thank you for the opportunity and the privilege to serve you for the time I was able.
No regrets at all. Keep the faith and protect each other.
Rich Wilkie is a 27-year firefighter for the Oak Park Fire Department and member of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 95.
Making a splash: Rich Wilkie helps Joey Midlash handle a fire hose at A Day In Our Village in 2004.
Photo by Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest File 2004/Staff
-John Mitchell is a Lieutenant on the Barrington (IL) fire department. He is a paramedic, fire and EMS instructor, certified fire investigator and Chicago Blackhawks fan. He is the editor of FireDaily.com.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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Really, talk about a very unselfish act there in the name of looking out for another brother. Outstanding. While having a long career, depending upon when FF Wilkie was hired (if he had enough years and met the age requirements) he could quite possibly be giving up better retirement benefits, so another brother doesn't have to worry about finding the ability to support his family. In such times it is easy to hear the "sucks to be you" mantra from guys who know their job is secure and the toll that sometimes is pushed on new hires with the layoff rumors constantly. But rarely, have I seen guys retire early to give another firefighter a chance to make their own career.
I do like this quote too and would love for the general public and even politicians to understand that this is a job, this is a lifestyle, this is a career, and this a job there for the very same people with such "numbered" thoughts. It is easy to believe the job is easy, FF's just sit around, and all other stigmas which come with the job. We don't patrol like the cops, to be seen. We block off a road for safety due to an accident or fire and we are just and inconveinence, we shop using the rigs so we can roll on a call if it comes in, not because we don't want to waste our own gas, we are training when the station doors are down, we don't get paid to sleep, sleep is never guaranteed, we do much more than what the general public sees. The problem is, if we really were more visible and we were much more busy on calls, fighting fires and so forth, that just really means someone else is probably having one of their worst days....that someone being a neighbor, a family member, etc. I guess in some people's eyes, they are just a number too.
It's disheartening and hurtful to be portrayed as the economic destroyers of the community, the ones who work such a short career and live such a wonderfully long retirement at the expense of the people we served - portrayed as something bad, as if our work, lives, careers were some sort of scam we have perpetrated on the community. I guess on a line item in a budget or in a ledger, we are just another number.
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Permalink Reply by Rusty Mancini on
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That my brothers is an amazing story of ones sacrifice for others! You don't see acts like this every day, it's a bitter/ sweet kinda story of true brotherhood. My helmets off to Rich!
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Permalink Reply by FETC on
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Most brothers unless in a career position to determine your actual faith to that retirement day, probably do not understand the many, many years of number crunching, life planning around the firehouse table and then ultimately deciding to walk away from a lengthy career in which for most has been the best job in the world.
To set up your later years and then make financial and benefit sacrafices so others may have the same opportunity, is unfathomable. You see he clearly is making sacrafices on behalf of his later years so many younger brothers may survive in this economic downturn.
They say the hardest part is setting the actual date and hanging up the gear for the very last time.... to do that unselfishly as this man has done is probably just a sliver of who the real man is...
May you have a wonderful and long retirement brother...
TCSS
FETC
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Permalink Reply by Smoke Eater on
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I am at a loss for words. Where else would you find that kind of devotion and love for your co-workers? These men are a prime example of what the brotherhood is all about.
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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I've got a hunch that he is one of those guys that never has a bad thing to say about anyone and that no one has anything bad to say about him. Not so much a hell of a firefighter as just a hell of a guy. Hope he hits the lottery.
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He deserves it that's for sure.
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