The author began his firefighting career at age 18 in 1962. That career ended in 2005 when he retired from the fire service.

In 1980, he had left New York and moved to Tennessee where I was advised that he was too old to be a fire fighter. Instead, Ihe worked various jobs to pay the bills but his heart was still to be in the fire service. Almost immediately after relocating to Florida, he was asked to join a volunteer fire department. The rest is history.

While growing up in New York, Gerard Felice had several relatives in the fire service in our community along with a few of the neighboring departments. Their stories always captured his attention and interest.

He especially loved the firemen’s parades. Those men marched down the main streets of the villages with so much pride it totally captured his childhood. All their highly polished trucks, the marching bands, the smart, sharp uniforms and the great number of firefighters was very exciting. Even to this day, when he walks into a fire station, the first thing he acknowledges is the aroma of smoke. Automatically that aroma brings back many fond memories.

He has fulfilled his life’s dream.