Heroes, families share common bonds
For 66 years they shared a storybook marriage, and yet there was something Paul Cook did not know about his wife until he read it on these pages back in 1999, the morning after six Worcester firefighters perished trying to knock down a warehouse conflagration.
Dot Cook had been called because she knew the perils of her husband’s profession all too well.
An Army veteran who landed at Normandy, Paul would come home to join the Boston Fire Department, retiring 42 years later as a district chief.
“We always went to firefighters’ wakes and each one reminded me it could have been our family standing there,” Dot said. “Most of the wives I’ve known were awfully proud of the work their husbands did and our kids felt that way, too. You get used to them being gone all night, not coming home the way guys with 9-to-5 jobs do.
“But to realize they’re never coming home … ”
As her voice trailed off she opened the door to a long-held secret.
“I never told this to Paul, because I didn’t want to worry him. But every night he worked, before going to bed I made sure I had an outfit ready in the closet just in case I got that call that no one likes to think about.
“And as our children came along I made sure I had outfits set aside for them, too.”
Tina Menard, whose husband Jason, a Worcester fire lieutenant who died saving two fellow firefighters in a Worcester blaze on Wednesday, also had outfits packed for their three kids, only their’s were for a trip to Disney that was scheduled to get under way as soon as Dad’s shift ended.
How could anyone have known he had answered his last alarm?
As Dot Cook implied in sharing that story of constant readiness, no one knows, yet firefighters like Jason Menard faithfully answer each call well aware of the unknowns awaiting them.
Touched by his wife’s revelation of coping with anxiety, the late Paul Cook dug out a copy of remarks he had made at a recent firefighters’ memorial.
“We have come to remember those of our fraternal family who did not choose the date or details of their departures, but went about fulfilling their duties, mindful of lurking dangers, leaving their destinies in the hands of a higher authority.”
That’s what Jason Menard did.
Ronald Reagan once suggested, “Those who say we live in a time of no heroes just don’t know where to look.”
Well, they ought to look to Worcester where firefighters from around the country will gather to pay homage to one of their own at his wake today and funeral on Monday.
Jason Menard was exactly what a hero is all about.