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Rescuers find shoulder to lean on
By MICHAEL SANDLER, Times Staff Writer LARGO -- Some people could call it coincidence. The Rev. Paul Pierce considers it fate. It was last August when Pierce, a Protestant minister, offered his services to become the Largo Fire Department's first chaplain. A parallel thought occurred across town, where Clearwater welcomed its first chaplains, too. One month later, firefighters really needed them. They watched as more than 300 of their New York colleagues perished rushing to save thousands inside the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. Father Mychal Judge, their chaplain and friend, died at their side. Pierce helped the Largo firefighters grieve. Now they don't understand how they ever managed without the affable fellow with calming blue eyes and a hearty Boston accent who rides on the truck with them each week. "It was good timing," said Division Chief Michael Wallace, who recommended the department add a chaplain one month before the terrorist attacks. "He was there for them to talk to about this issue. Firefighters traditionally don't talk about their emotions very well. (But) it's easy to do with clergy." This week, Largo made his role official. Pierce, 57, got a uniform, badge and helmet at a ceremony at City Hall. They even ordered him firefighters' protective bunker gear so he can get up close. "It shows there was a need to begin with," said Pierce, a volunteer who remains on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Each week, he also spends an eight-hour shift at one of the stations and makes routine stops at the others to have a meal, share a laugh or tell a story. "They are not seeing him as some distant guy who shows up once in a while," said Wallace. "He is there all the time. He is not considered an outsider." That can be a great value. The emergency may end at the scene, but firefighters often relive what they encounter and need to talk. Some prefer formal counseling. Others prefer spiritual guidance. "Once you are on the scene of a tremendous tragedy, there is a lot of stress," said Pierce. "You listen. Each one has the chance to tell what they found." Clearwater firefighters understand. They now can confide in Father Jacob Monteleone and the Rev. Mike Kimbrough. Both of them volunteered in August to be the department's first chaplains. "We had the idea prior to Sept. 11," said Charlie Flowers, a spokesman for the department. "But that just reinforced the urgency." Coincidence is nothing new to Pierce. He's the guy from Boston and a huge Celtics fan who happens to share a name with the current team's star forward. Neither is public service. Pierce works with developmentally challenged individuals for the Department of Children and Family Services and is an ordained minister for Open Bible Standard church in Des Moines, Iowa. He spent more than three years shuttling back and forth to Haiti as a missionary (1987 to 1991) and served three years as a local politician in New Hampshire (1972 to 1975). He was even featured in Time magazine and the Boston Globe in the early 1980s for drafting a law to allow voluntary prayer in school that was ultimately dismissed by the Massachusetts Supreme Court. He has a simple answer for his devotion. "I just love it," he says. -- Michael Sandler can be reached at 445-4174 or sandler@sptimes.com.
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From the Times North Pinellas desks Editorial Letters |
