Many of you know that we have several old fire trucks in the Community Outreach Program of our Team to support many causes through our community. We use them for different purposes, whether being in a firefighter wedding, a child’s birthday party, a parade anywhere we can find one, supporting Autism Awareness, women or men’s health campaigns, or sadly, providing the transportation of a deceased firefighter to his or her final resting place. We have these trucks because of the generosity of departments that have retired them and passed them on to us for a second life in the community.
I want to share some thoughts with you tonight about our “Big John” truck. It is a 1969 Mack that was originally from the Union Beach Harris Gardens Fire Department in New Jersey before being brought to South Carolina to become a part of the Old Fort Fire Department fleet. After many years of roaming the streets of Ladson and lower Dorchester County, it was given to us in 2012, an unbelievable EIGHT years ago. We acquired the truck to create a tribute to our own beloved Battalion Chief John Winn who, at the time, was suffering with mesothelioma. We worked night and day to restore it and he worked right beside us until his illness confined him to home. We then would take photos of our work each day and go to his house so he could see our progress. Sadly, we finished at 3:00 a.m., on the morning of his funeral and were able to have it there to be in his procession.
Chief Winn believed that if his cancer would have been detected early, his life would have been prolonged. He wanted to display a fire truck under the banner of the “Big John” Project Firefighter Health Awareness Campaign to bring attention to including life scans as a part of firefighter physicals. These life scans have proven an amazing tool in detecting cancer evidenced by many in our ranks who have benefited from the early detection. This was a daunting task as we totally refurbished the truck including being wrapped in an amazing pearl vinyl by Signs ASAP in Summerville and trimmed out in light blue to pay tribute to its original color in Union Beach.
These old trucks require constant love and attention to keep them running and “Big John” gets its’ fair share. But it is 51 years old now and like me, is getting old and tired. Recently, we have struggled with keeping it running but we made a commitment to Chief John before he passed in the summer of 2012 that we would keep it going. So, yesterday, after several mind-boggling days (it doesn’t take much to boggle my old mind”) we finally were ready for the test to see if our work had paid off. We had cleaned all four batteries, charged them individually, tightened up everything we could think of, prayed a lot, and decided it was “do or die”. Let me tell you, when I hit the starter buttons, and the old truck turned over and cackled to life, I was sure I could hear John cheering us on. By the way, most of you that have been around awhile know what I mean when a Mack firetruck “cackles” to life.
Thanks to all of you for joining me to take this trip down memory lane tonight. Watch for “Big John” and us in the coming days as we will appear at Lowcountry Harley Davidson in North Charleston on Saturday, September 12, at 10:00 a.m., for the “7th Annual David Bourne 9/11 Memorial Ride”. We also have two weddings coming up for firefighters, one in October and another in November. Keep following our page as we will post other times you can join to sign your name on “Big John”. We look forward to seeing you! Gerald
