People in this world may be divided by political views, race, sexual orientation, and religion but there is one group of people that are blind to this and will run into a burning inferno and save your life regardless if you are a democrat or republican, gay or straight, black or white, Catholic or Jewish.
These groups of people are the brave men of the Boston Fire Department
This week we lost perhaps two of the finest men to serve in the Department, Firefighter Michael Kennedy and Fire Lieutenant Ed Walsh.
Without hesitation during a raging 9-alarm fire in the Back Bay, Kennedy and Walsh grabed a hose and ran into the blaze in total disregard of their own safety to begin pulling people out of the building.
Then, something went horribly wrong. They were cut off from their unit. They signaled a mayday. They tried to get out of the scorching heat and blinding smoke but paid the ultimate sacrifice for the lives of others.
This is what the men of the Boston Fire Department do every day.
Watching and reading the tributes all week makes one thing evident—Bostonians do not take them for granted.
It’s going to be a heartbreaking next few days as we tune into the funerals of Walsh and Kennedy. The bagpipes will play. Their brothers on the Department will stand in solemn honor as their fire trucks are paraded down the street with their boots and helmet on top.
These two men deserve every tear and every tribute they get.
Someone once said that no matter how long you train someone to be brave, you never know if they are or not until something real happens.
Well, something real happened last week in Boston and anyone who knew Firefighter Michael Kennedy and Fire Lieutenant Ed Walsh knows now there is no question they passed the test and are two of the bravest men Boston has seen.
If they had lived and somehow found their way through the licking flames and haze of smoke there is no question when the next call came in they’d be the first ones to grab a hose and try and save a life.