HARRY R. CARTER, Ph.D., MIFireE

Once again, I turn to my associates in the fire service for a bit of motivation. Last week’s commentary, Love Your Community has led a long time associate to remind me of a historical charge, from a President long gone.

My buddy, and old Air Force roommate John Harris, late of Tennessee, got my attention Monday morning. He was responding to my comments on the two people I wrote about who typify community involvement in their daily lives. John asked me to think back to John F. Kennedy’s 1961 call to arms for our country. Let me use John’s words to me to set the stage for this week’s commentary.

"President Kennedy once said "…ask not what your country can do for you . . .ask what you can do for your country." This needs to be asked of ALL politicians. Your copy of the letter to President Bush from a volunteer in Pennsylvania is a good example. The Fire Service IS the embodiment of Kennedy's statement.

Our Politicians, especially the national level ones, aren't thinking about National (This includes LOCAL) service. Perhaps the next time that politician steps into your firehouse you should ask him that question and then tell why you cannot be of better service because he or she hasn't thought about THEIR debt to the Community (Our Country is a Community).

Maybe we should park a broken down engine and ragged turnout gear in front of his ranch and invite the national media to a "photo opportunity". Yes Harry I am radical, but if you are not you won't accomplish a thing. It has been said that you gather more flies with honey than with vinegar, but when you don't have either you must cry out for the HELP you so desperately need."

As an eager 8th grader, I can remember staying home from school to listen to the inaugural speech of President John F. Kennedy. Whether I was actually sick, or whether I was suffering the sickness of academic expedience, I do not remember. However, the point I am trying to make is this. I remember exactly when President Kennedy posed that question to all of us at that moment in history. How many just sloughed it off as political rhetoric? Moreover, how many took it as a challenge?

I think John Harris has struck the nail square on the head for all of us. Whether you are a Republican, a Democrat, or an Independent, the question remains the same. What have you done for your country lately? Most of the politicians I have ever met are real long on rhetoric. Some of them have been in politics for so long; they would be hard-pressed to remember the last real job any of them ever held.

Let me start with a serious question for every one to ask their political representatives. In addition, this question can be asked to every candidate from your local dogcatcher, right on up to the President of the United States. What is the one thing you have done for your community that has the potential for a direct, daily impact on how the community lives and prospers? What have you done to repay the debt that you owe to this great land of ours?

It would be my guess that they will point to a particular program, or to a grant of funds, or some speech that they made. Nevertheless, how many of them can tell of the time that they crawled down a long, dark, smoked filled hall? How many of them have held life in their hands? How many have experienced the grief and sadness that goes with the inability to save a life?

As one who earns his way in the world as a writer now, I deal in words. I string them together, I make paragraphs that will, hopefully, make sense, and I try to share what I have learned over the past 36 years in the fire and emergency medical services. I want you to know that I derive a great deal of satisfaction from the ability I possess to speak on behalf of the fire and EMS troops throughout North America. In addition, it is my hope that what I say and do will make a difference in the overall history of the fire service.

But I also want you to know that all of what I have done, or all that I am doing, in the world of knowledge and education, pales in comparison to those one or two times in my life where I was called to step up to the plate and place my life on the line. I can point to a few people who are walking the face of God’s Green Earth today because of my efforts. The number might have been higher, but I was mainly an engine company guy. My brother, the truckie, was far better at this phase of firefighting than I was.

That phase of my career is behind me now. The nuances of age catch up with us all. However, that doesn’t mean that I have to give up the battle. There is still a great many things left to accomplish in my life. There are experiences to be shared, knowledge to pass on, and stories of an earlier time to tell the young folks.

As I sit here in my office, gazing out the window, I see the American Flag flying majestically from the pole in front of my neighbor’s business. I pause and ponder the words of our late President, "…ask not what your country can do for you . . .ask what you can do for your country."

Like you, I battle for the betterment of the fire service. Like you, I respond to the needs within my community. As a Fire Commissioner, I now play a critical role in determining the future of fire protection in our district. In addition, as a concerned member of the fire service, I am working hard to see that the Fire Bill will continue beyond this year.

I am asking you to do the same. Each person who reads this commentary should take the time to contact their representatives and their Senators. That is a grand total of three people. It is the same regardless of whatever state you might happen to reside in. You may wish to download the fine letter that is available from the International Association of Fire Chiefs. Alternatively, you may wish to put pen to paper or finger to computer key.

Ask them that same simple question President Kennedy asked us back in 1961. "…ask not what your country can do for you . . .ask what you can do for your country." In this case, you can fight to make sure that the funds become available for the future of the Fire Bill. You can step forward and have an impact on the problem, and have a hand in its solution.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I want you to know that there are those who are fighting against us. There are those who have sent me emails telling me how glad they were that the Fire Bill was going to die. Some even likened it to government welfare for the fire service. Others told me how well off they were, and how the government had no business telling the fire service what to do.

In addition, there were others who were only too glad to remind me of how swell things would be if the election had gone the other way.

To all of these troops I say quite simply… there are those who desperately need the help. It is these people that I labor for, to get them the proper tools or equipment that will make a difference for them. Will there be those who get money that really don’t need it? Of course, that is just the way that things go.

As each of us rises from our easy chair to respond to the calls for help that continually come from our fellow travelers on this Planet Earth, let us state quite simply that we live our lives as our personal reply to President Kennedy’s query. To the troops in Washington, DC let us offer the following sentiment,

Mr. Bush, I know what I am doing for my community. I know, because my fellow emergency service workers and I do our duty every day of the year.

We now turn to you Mr. President and ask… "We know what we are doing for our country, what are YOU doing to help us get the job done?"

The commentary in this column does not necessarily reflect those of Firehouse.Com, Firehouse Magazine, their employees or parent company Cygnus Business Media. Harry R. Carter, Ph.D., MIFireE, is an internationally known municipal fire protection consultant and contributing editor to Firehouse Magazine. He recently retired as a Battalion Commander with the Newark, New Jersey Fire Department. His commentary appears regularly on Firehouse.Com. For more commentary and information, visit Carter's web site at www.harrycarter.com Harry has published several books available for online ordering, including Firefighting Strategy and Tactics and Management in the Fire Service