Looking back on my two days spent in Boston Im still amazed by the brotherhood shown by the fire service and the support we received from the greater Boston area. Local and state law enforcement taking care of traffic control and escorting the busses which were driven by men and women who had volunteered their time. Once on the busses I met up with a group of firefighters one of whom was Salem Ma. A simple question of Im staying in Salem where should I go for dinner turned into stick with us for the day. A huge thank you to Ray Krajeski and Jack Gaffney for the brotherhood and friendship you extended over those two days. After the services we returned to the Salem Waterfront Hotel where they had opened almost 80 rooms to IAFF members free of charge. After being up since 0300 to get to Boston in time the hotel was a welcome sight. Ill definitely be visiting Salem. From the hotel we went to dinner at the 99 restaurant sharing stories of our departments and where we were from. After finishing our meal we asked for the check only to find out that it had been paid for by the booth behind us. The check was paid with a very generous tip and a note that read something to the effect of Thank you for everything you do, we are very sorry about the loss of your brothers. For the first time in a long time I was speechless. I was so shocked and felt so undeserving Im still touched by their gesture. The second day I met up with some of the brothers from Torrington and Stamford and proudly stood with my co-workers from Meriden to salute FF Michael Kennedy as the procession departed for the cemetery. After leaving West Roxbury I got on a trolley and headed back to my car to make the trip back to Newtown.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 16:34:03 +0000
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