Firefighter of the week – Battalion Chief Battalion 49 Joseph Grzelak

By Dan Samaria
Publisher/GCC
October 28, 2009

Firefighting With Research

Around the firehouse, they called him Joe Knows. The chief of Battalion 48 in Brooklyn, Joseph Grzelak had been fighting fires for 28 years and memorizing trivia for even longer. During slow shifts he could be found at his computer, researching everything from home repair to bowling strategies. He was a history buff who read two newspapers a day, breezed through crossword puzzles and answered all manner of arcane questions for friends and colleagues (hence the nickname).

“We encouraged him to try out for ‘Jeopardy,’” Chief Grzelak’s wife, Joanne, said. “He’d watch it, and most of the time he was right on the money.”

Chief Grzelak, 52, had a mathematical mind that benefited the men he supervised. “He was very rational about fighting fires,” Mrs. Grzelak said. “When the younger guys would ask him how to approach a certain situation, he always came up with the best advice.”

When he raced to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, Chief Grzelak took a binder full of research he had compiled over the years about fighting high-rise fires. It was found, Mrs. Grzelak said, in his crushed car.
Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on December 13, 2001.

BATTALION CHIEF JOSEPH GRZELAK, 52, of New York, was in a bowling alley in 1970 when he saw a woman and told his friends he would get a date with her. He did better than that #8211 the two were eventually married. Grzelak, a Vietnam veteran, began his career with the New York Fire Department in 1973. “I didn’t just lose my husband that day,” Joanne Grzelak said. “I lost my best friend.” Grzelak had earned citations for lifesaving heroics during his career. A trivia buff, he even earned the nickname “Joe Knows” from his fellow firefighters. “He was the perfect combination of a father and a friend,” said his daughter Debra Grzelak.

Copyright © 2001 The Associated Press

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Wish of the week – Jordan

By MWF/PIO
October 28, 2009

Source Make A Wish Foundation

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@goldcoastchronicle.com

Officer of the Week – Police Officer Brian G. McDonnell

 
Remember September 11, 2001
Angels Among Us

Police Officer Brian G. McDonnell
Shield 6889
ESU-1
9/15/2001

Police Officer Brian G. McDonnell
Shield 6889
ESU-1

Police officer Brian McDonnell wanted to change the world, and he’d do anything to save a life. A member of New York City’s emergency service unit, his squad was among the first to respond to the World Trade Center disaster Tuesday.

“He thought about others before himself,” said Glenn Gering, a close friend who grew up with McDonnell, 38, in Wantagh. “He wanted to change the world,” Gering said.

The Emergency Service Unit is made up of about 350 men and women who risk their lives to save others. Fourteen members of the unit are unaccounted for.

McDonnell, who has been a police officer for more than 10 years and was a member of the armed forces before that, is a devoted husband and father of two, Gering said.

McDonnell was supposed to go to Gering’s house tomorrow for cake and coffee. “Unfortunately, because of our schedules, we didn’t get together as often as we would have liked,” Gering said.

“I hope all of America will never forget this horrific act of terror,” Gering said in a letter to Newsday, vand more importantly, never forget my friend, Brian McDonnell, an American hero.”

- New York Newsday Victim Database 9/15/2001

Source: NYP Angels

Patient of the Week – Tony Cain

By St. Jude
October 27, 2009

Tony Cain
7 years old

Diagnosis:

Tony was found to suffer from Ewing sarcoma in July 2007.

 

Tony’s Story:

When 6-year-old Tony developed a limp and later hurt his leg while roughhousing, his family never imagined cancer was the root of these problems. During a family vacation to Florida, Tony slipped in a puddle of water and began limping. He assured his parents he wasn’t hurt, but they noticed that Tony continued to limp even after the family had returned home. A month later while jumping on his bed, Tony fell and hurt his leg.

“He didn’t sleep at all that night,” Tony’s mother said. “He said his leg hurt and he cried.” When Tony’s pain continued into the next day, she took him to the doctor. An X-ray revealed devastating news: Tony had a tumor. His pediatrician referred the family to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital right away. “I was in disbelief, I didn’t know what to think,” Tony’s mom said. “It all happened so quickly.”

At St. Jude:

As soon as the family arrived at St. Jude, they felt at ease. “We walked in the doors and my tears just stopped,” his mom said. “We saw kids playing and nobody looked sad.” St. Jude doctors found Tony suffered from Ewing sarcoma, a cancer of the bone and soft tissue.

Tony underwent five rounds of chemotherapy, followed by surgery to remove the tumor and part of his pelvis affected by the tumor. He then received 12 more rounds of chemotherapy. Tony also received physical and occupational therapies to help him regain strength. He now returns to St. Jude every three months for checkups.

Tony’s mom is thankful for all that St. Jude has provided for her family during this difficult time. Aside from Tony’s treatment and care, St. Jude provided housing, meals and transportation for him and one family member, as well as activities like arts and crafts projects to keep Tony and his sister, Alexis, occupied. The family is grateful, too, for the donors who help support St. Jude. “There’s no way we could have done it on our own,” his mom said.

Tony is in second grade. His favorite subject is reading, and each week he brings home a stack of books to read. Tony also likes to play outside with the neighborhood kids. “He gets tired a lot faster,” Tony’s mom said, “but Tony does his best to keep up with the kids. He still runs with them.”

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com

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Soldier of the Week – USMC Lt. Col. Brian M. Kennedy

By Brian J Arthurs
Investor’s Business Daily
October 26, 2009

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com

Challenges hit the Marines ahead of the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

Many, like Brian Kennedy, had just traveled from Camp Lejeune, N.C., to Kuwait.

In his case, he had gone by sea along with the Cobra helicopter he would pilot. When he reached the Persian Gulf, he faced harsh weather and other conditions he couldn’t replicate in prewar training.

For Kennedy and his fellow Marines, they would need bravery and a commitment to purpose.

Kennedy, a major at the time, was among the first to fire on the Iraq War’s opening day. He piloted his Cobra in support of the Marines advancing through safe lines identified on the ground to avoid land mines set by the enemy.

“The weather conditions were very challenging,” said Kennedy, now a lieutenant colonel. “The wind-swept sand floated in the air, making the sky and the ground the same color.”

As ground forces advanced on enemy targets from March 20 to April 14, 2003, Kennedy and his team of Cobras targeted enemy weapons installations.

On March 20’s start of the war, plans called for Kennedy to lead four Cobras in support of a nighttime mission. But plans changed.

The word came down for Kennedy and his team to get airborne and provide cover before dark. Flying at dusk meant the night-vision gear would be less effective. Now the pilots had to follow chopper instruments to guide them at dangerously low levels in poor visibility.

Fog Of War

The view was so poor, the helicopters had to turn on their exterior lights to make them visible to one another — and to the enemy.

“We were facing mostly small-arms fire, anti-aircraft fire,” Kennedy told IBD. “But we also saw some RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) that looked like flying roman candles through night vision and (also looked like) a surface-to-air missile, but mostly machine guns.”

Kennedy recalls that for all the artillery fired his way, the biggest threat that night wasn’t Iraqi forces, but the possibility of running into the ground or another Cobra.

“Night One was undoubtedly the worst conditions I’ve ever flown in,” he said.

Despite the challenges, the Marines achieved their objective.

Three days later, Kennedy embarked on a mission that would last 12 hours. He led his section over a battlefield near the Rumaylah oil field, just across the border from Kuwait, that the Iraqis defended with artillery and small-arms fire.

The Cobras had to cut through haze because of oil smoke and burning Iraqi equipment. Kennedy flew two hours at a time, returning to base camp only to resupply and refuel. He never left the cockpit.

“You’re just not thinking about the time it takes to refuel and re-equip,” said Kennedy. “(There’s) no way you’re going to say no to a mission and let down a fellow Marine on the ground trying to find his way through a breach in the minefields. We pushed the limits to make sure we helped our fellow Marines on the ground.”

Again, Marine forces advanced in these crucial opening days.

Teamwork was crucial to more Kennedy success in battle. On March 28, he and his team provided invaluable support to their allies.

While the British army’s 7th Armored Brigade maneuvered to take Basra, Kennedy and other U.S. air support forces engaged Iraqi troops, again from low altitude in minimal visibility. The combined effort helped the coalition prevail.

Kennedy kept coming. According to his fellow servicemen, his flights decimated eight artillery positions and an enormous artillery stash.

The biggest hits landed on April 5. Kennedy and his team destroyed the Iraqis’ last remaining ballistic missile system. These systems had the capability of delivering chemical weapons against allied forces stationed in Kuwait.

This mission was especially harrowing. If flying at night and through smoke from burning oil fields wasn’t bad enough, Kennedy had to pilot his Cobra at just 300 feet so he could see the ground. Then there were surrounding tension wires suspended at 500 feet.

“We flew on instruments only while we were (higher) in the smoke clouds,” Kennedy said. “And when we knew we were clear of the wires, we would drop straight down in order to see the city so we could prosecute the targets.”

His fellow Marines were impressed by Kennedy’s cool and attention to detail. “He never tried to do too much,” said his co-pilot, Capt. Dennis Pyszczymuka. “He always spent the time needed to prepare in advance for his missions. He was very proactive. He always wanted to know what you had to say. He wouldn’t just make a snap decision, even when it was his to make.”

For his heroics, Kennedy received the Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor, a top military honor.

“What impressed me most about (Lt. Col.) Kennedy was his calm demeanor,” said Maj. Lee Mayer, who piloted another Cobra in the section. “He never let the rush of combat affect his judgment. He always did the right thing.”

Kennedy served another tour in Iraq in 2005. By then, the enemy had morphed from an organized military force into one of terrorists often hiding in the shadows.

He says it made for a significant tactical change for the Marines. Rather than having direct engagements, combat required more intelligence gathering to root out an enemy trying to blend in with the citizenry.

College And Corps

Kennedy, a native of Youngstown, Ohio, enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1989 after graduating from Ohio State University. He was eager to try something difficult, where the outcome “was not preordained.”

His interest in aviation had been piqued at an early age. He worked at an airport with his dad, doing everything from pumping gas to washing planes and cutting grass runways.

When Kennedy entered flight school in 1990, Desert Storm was on the horizon. He says he selected the Cobra because it seemed like the most rewarding mission.

Now 43 and near his 20th year in the Marines, Kennedy is the executive officer of Marine Aircraft Group 39 at Camp Pendleton, Calif. He’s passing along his knowledge to the Marines’ new aviators.

Kennedy’s Keys

• Bravely led a team of four Cobra helicopters supporting Marine forces in the opening days of the Iraq War, battling the enemy and harsh weather, smoke and fire.

• “Calm, like panic, is contagious. Stay calm.”

Source: Investors

Wish of the week – Paul

By MWF/PIO
October 25, 2009

Source Make A Wish Foundation

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@goldcoastchronicle.com

Patient of the Week – Brookelynn Hunt

By St. Jude
October 24, 2009

Brookelynn Hunt

2 years old

Diagnosis:

Brookelynn was found to suffer from atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (ATRT) in August 2007.

Brookelynn’s Story:

For a week, 13-month-old Brookelynn was off balance and sick to her stomach. Her parents, Christy and Richard, took her to the pediatrician, who said Brookelynn had an ear infection. But two days later, when Richard noticed little Brookelynn’s hand shaking, he felt something more was afflicting his daughter. He was in the process of driving her to the hospital when Brookelynn’s hand shaking turned into something much more serious: a seizure, which caused her to lose movement on her left side.

At the hospital, an MRI revealed a tumor on the right side of Brookelynn’s head. Doctors suspected ATRT. Brookelynn was immediately flown to a local children’s hospital, where surgeons removed 100 percent of the tumor. But doctors wanted to wait six weeks before starting treatment. Christy and Richard were ill at ease with the doctors recommendation, and started searching for alternative options. Their search led them to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

St. Jude staff advised Brookelynn’s family not to wait six weeks, as ATRT is a fast-growing cancer. St. Jude, they said, could see her immediately. “We left that night,” Christy said. “We literally packed up and left right then.”

At St. Jude:

Brookelynn underwent four months of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation. She regained strength and movement on her left side. After she returned home, Brookelynn received oral chemotherapy. She visits St. Jude every six months for checkups.

“St. Jude is such a wonderful place,” Christy said. The family especially appreciated the housing provided to St. Jude families. “We stayed at the Target House for almost seven months,” she said. “It meant a lot. There was so much we didn’t have to worry about – the meals, Brookelynn’s care. It took a lot of stress off of us.”

Christy and Richard are most thankful for what St. Jude has given them—their daughter. “She’s still here with us,” Christy said. “She’s doing really well.” Brookelynn, who became a big sister over the summer, is a sweet little girl who loves animals and her baby dolls.

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com

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Soldier of the Week – Army Pfc. David Hutchinson

By David Hogberg
Investor’s Business Daily
October 23, 2009

Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com

Army Pfc. David Hutchinson landed in Afghanistan on May 16, 2008.

It would be a short deployment.

On his fifth day a grenade wounded him — but not before he killed five terrorists and helped secure the safety of 16 fellow soldiers.

A year later he received the Silver Star for bravery. The Pentagon says he’s just the fifth Army reservist so honored.

Hutchinson was born in 1987 in Humble, Texas. He joined the Army Reserve when he was 18, joining his family’s long line in uniform.

“There was a strong sense of patriotism in the family,” Hutchinson told IBD. “That was instilled in me from the get-go.”

His grandfather, uncle and a few cousins all joined the military, mostly in the Air Force.

Hutchinson had a simple reason for not going that route: “I’m not a big fan of flying.”

Hutchinson is with the 420th Engineer Brigade. Not that he does much engineering. He mostly trains for brigade security. This involves providing safe transport for VIPs.

On the morning of May 21, 2008, members of the brigade’s security detail were in a convoy of four Humvees driving through the mountains of Afghanistan.

Riding Shotgun

Hutchinson was in the third Humvee manning the MK-19, a machine gun that fires 40 mm grenades. “We wanted to know what it was like on that route before we had to drive it with somebody important,” he said.

The ambush came at 11 a.m. as the convoy moved up a small mountain.

“Just about the time that all four trucks got into the pass, the front truck opened up with its 50-caliber machine gun,” Hutchinson said. “At that point I couldn’t see anything, I could just hear the shooting at the front. I immediately started looking around, and two or three seconds later I saw several insurgents pop up on the right side of the convoy, which was my sector of fire.”

Roughly 20 of the enemy attacked the convoy with AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-fired grenades. From 200 feet away terrorist snipers tried to riddle the convoy.

Hutchinson was in the Humvee’s turret and opened up with his MK-19. Despite the crash of battle, he aimed methodically. “There were several positions I could see fire coming from, so it was a matter of assessing which position had the most fire coming from it,” he said.

A machine gun nest at the top of a hill, from which the terrorists were firing a Russian-made PKM, gave the enemy fire superiority. Other terrorists were popping up from the nest, firing AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades.

“To me, it was very obvious that one position had the most amount of fire coming from it, so I focused my firepower on that spot,” said Hutchinson. “Once that was destroyed, I started assessing other spots that had fire coming from them, and I adjusted and fired at those positions.”

By all accounts his MK-19 shots were the main reason the Americans held the terrorists’ ambush at bay, letting the convoy move out of the line of fire. He was so effective, the enemy turned its focus on him.

The terrorist barrage hit him hard, with Hutchinson’s fellow soldiers later counting 100 bullet marks in the turret.

Hutchinson answered with his own onslaught for a few minutes. He emptied an entire can of ammunition before two grenades struck his Humvee. The force of the blast knocked him out of the turret and into the crew compartment. Shrapnel had gashed his right leg.

“When I landed down in the truck, I couldn’t feel my legs,” he recalled. “Actually, I couldn’t feel anything from the waist down. At that point, I couldn’t get back in the turret.”

Hutchinson had landed in the lap of 1st Sgt. David Gusberry, who was in the rear passenger seat. As the private rolled over, he saw that Gusberry was seriously injured.

“His entire face was covered in blood, his armor was covered in blood,” Hutchinson said. “Since I couldn’t get back up into the turret, obviously the next best thing I could do was treat his wounds and try to control the bleeding as best I could.”

Gusberry, who was scanning for the enemy and improvised explosive devices that day, recalls Hutchinson’s cool.

“He never panicked. He did his job, then worked on my injuries,” said Gusberry. “He stayed by me to make sure I didn’t go into shock.”

As the attack subsided, the convoy moved out of the mountain pass and met up with a medical helicopter. Hutchinson refused treatment, insisting that the medics tend only to Gusberry. As injured soldiers must be secured on a stretcher before getting on a helicopter, Hutchinson’s decision shortened the time the chopper spent on the ground.

Hutchinson credits his training, which he received at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, from a couple of sergeants first class, Jimmy Snell and Robert Parsons.

“They told us at the beginning that the training would be long and hard, 14 to 16 hour days,” Hutchinson said. “But if we stuck it out, we’d be part of the security detail.”

The training involved practicing ambush scenarios in which Hutchinson and his fellow soldiers were outnumbered six-to-one.

“That taught us to not freak out, that there was always a way to get out of those situations,” he said. “That hard and very realistic training they put us through contributed to everyone coming out of the situation (in Afghanistan) alive.”

Gusberry says training really took with Hutchinson. Why? “His can-do attitude,” said the first sergeant.

Since returning from Afghanistan, Hutchinson, 22, has been promoted to specialist along with landing more medals: a Purple Heart, an Army Achievement Medal and an Army Good Conduct Medal.

He also is recovering from his wounds. For that he thanks the medics on the ground, plus the doctors, nurses and physical therapists at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. “They are all top-notch,” Hutchinson said. “It’s very obvious they know what they are doing.”

Step By Step

“I can walk for longer distances without a cane,” he said. “I’m also getting back the ability to jog, and May was the first month I had gotten back on a bicycle in over a year.”

Gusberry is also making his way back, although he suffers from partial blindness and will be medically discharged from the Army in a few months. “It could have been a lot worse,” he said.

As Hutchinson heals between Reserve jobs, he works as a retail sales consultant for AT&T . He could be called back to Afghanistan as soon as he’s made a full recovery. He sounds ready to help: “One of the things I noticed while I was there were the people building their own freeways. A lot of the roads are just dirt and hard rock. It was actually inspiring to see these asphalt roads being built, making travel between various cities that much faster.”

Source: Investors

Officer of the Week – Police Officer Ronald Kloepfer

 
Remember September 11, 2001
Angels Among Us

Police Officer Ronald Kloepfer
Shield 22403
ESS-7
11/22/2001

Police Officer Ronald Kloepfer
Shield 22403
ESS-7

Within the tight fraternity of the New York City Police Department is an even tighter fraternity ‹ the 25 men, from officers to lieutenants, who wear the blue jerseys of the department’s lacrosse team. Ronny Kloepfer, 39, a sniper with the Emergency Service Unit, was their leader. He was founder, coach and midfielder of the six-year-old team, which had a 4-2 record in the annual charity game against its arch-rival, the New York City Fire Department.

Officer Kloepfer, who played for Seewanaka High School and then Adelphi University, somehow fit the team into a schedule that included his elite police position, a side job as a contractor and the demands of a young family. His wife, Dawn, and three children Jaime, 11; Taylor, 9; and Casey, 5 were always on the sidelines, as Officer Kloepfer was when his two daughters played their games. Casey was still too young, Mrs. Kloepfer said, but had his own stick from the day he was born.

From March to May, the team practiced two or three times a week, from 5 to 7 p.m., at an abandoned junior high school near Officer Kloepfer’s home in Franklin Square, N.Y. Now that he is gone, three teammates will run the team, a task Officer Kloepfer managed alone. “We don’t know how he did it,” said Detective Craig Carson. “We took him for granted almost.”

- The New York Times 11/22/2001

Source: NYP Angels

Firefighter of the week – Battalion Chief Battalion 9 Edward F. Geraghty

By Dan Samaria
Publisher/GCC
October 19, 2009

‘His Talent Was His Mind’

Several years ago, Battalion Chief Edward F. Geraghty was put in charge of the Fire Department’s training school on Randall’s Island. On his first day, he gave the new recruits a pep talk, telling them what he expected. After he was done, he turned around to find the school’s instructors staring strangely at him. “What did I do wrong?” he asked. One replied, “You’re not supposed to be nice, you’re supposed to scare the hell out of them.”

That would have been difficult for Chief Geraghty, said his wife, Mary. “I was married to Eddie for 17 years and I saw him in a bad mood twice.” Even last year, when her father became terminally ill and had to move in with them, when they found out their middle son, James, 12, had juvenile diabetes and when they had a fire in their house that displaced them for several weeks, he kept an optimistic outlook and his sense of humor. She said, “He would always say, `Life doesn’t get any better than this.’ ”

Chief Geraghty, 45, oversaw five firehouses on Manhattan’s West Side, all of which responded to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.

Mrs. Geraghty used to go downstairs every morning and find her husband already reading and studying. “His talent was his mind,” she said. Now, when she rises, she sits at the bottom of the stairs as the sun comes up with a picture of him and tells him, “Good morning.”

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on March 10, 2002.

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