John Linstrom:  

Life Professionally, I graduated from Waltham High in '77 and completed EMT school at Mass Bay. The Lexington, MA Fire Dept (The Birthplace of American Liberty) told me that they had enough "white applicants" and I could not be given an application for the firefighter test. I entered the US Air Force to get further training and my veteran's preference and return to the Boston Fire Department to compete during the embarrasing era of affirmative action that defined Massachusetts in 1978. I never made it back, but I have had an incredible professional career. In the Air Force, I was assigned as an emergency room medic, an air transportable hospital technician and a flight medic for a fighter squadron in Japan and California. I completed the Fire Academy at San Bernardino Valley College and paramedic school at Crafton Hills and served for 14 years in the southern California fire service. Lots of trauma calls and wildfires. I was a Group Supervisor on the "Old Fire" and led 16 engines into hell for two days. Pretty amazing fire behavior. I completed two associates degrees (one in paramedics and one in fire science) and left California and took an Asst. Fire Chief position in a suburb of Dallas, Texas in 1994. I spent 7 years in North Texas and served as Interim Fire Chief, Asst Chief and emergency management coordinator for two Texas cities. In 1996, I got involved with the Urban Search & Rescue program and ultimately was a Task Force Leader on the Texas Task Force-1 US&R Team. I deployed with FEMA to the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11 and spent 10 very long nights at "ground zero". I witnessed the very worst and the very best of humanity during that week....Expand for more