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Firefighters Refuse Orders to Remove Patriotic Stickers, Unfortunately It Wasn’t That Easy
IN NEWS, OPINION, VIDEOS / BY SEAN BROWN / ON SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 AT 6:17 PM /
A group of Illinois firefighters refused orders to remove their patriotic stickers, some of which had historical value, because of the reason they were told to remove them, but as a result the chief put his foot down.
An order from Maywood Fire Dept. Chief Craig Bronaugh said that all stickers and decals must come off both lockers and helmets, including images of the American flag and a Marine Corps decal one of the fireman had on his locker.
“I take great offense to that,” David Flowers said.
“My dad was a fireman for 26 years in Maywood,” just west of Chicago, he told WFLD-TV. “I took over his locker. And on the outside of his locker I have a Marine Corps decal … it’s been there for well over 30 years.”
Flowers is the president of the union for Maywood firefighters, and he said the order is a morale killer. So he and three of his fellow fireman refused to obey the orders given to them from the chief.
As a result, the four patriotic men were suspended by Bronaugh. The suspensions were handed down to the men after the chief met with a representative from Service Employees International Union Local 73 for an hour on Tuesday.
The chief claims that his orders aren’t related to the American flags, but they’re about keeping things “uniform” within his department.
According to WBBM, the four firemen who were suspended were told the order had to do with keep racial harmony in the station. However, the four men in question – a native Cuban, a black man and two white men – told the news outlet that there isn’t any discord in the fire house.
When questioned about the suspension by WFLD, the chief gave them an image of a smoking monkey that was once hanging on a locker, which he said could be a problem. He told the station that all it would take is a single visitor to walk into the fire station during his men responding to a call for an emergency and see the pictures, and they would think there’s racist firefighters working there.
The problem with the chief’s assertion is that the firefighters told the news station the smoking monkey picture has been gone for a couple of years. Worse yet, a former firefighter from that station told the news station that he put the image up ten years ago to “jam up” one of his fellow firefighters about his smoking habit, and there wasn’t anything else to it.
When the news station asked the chief about the discrepancy in time frames, he declined to talk about it then sent them a picture of a locker that had a golf ball on it.
Flowers explained to WFLD that he understands the chief’s intentions, but he thinks that he has to be realistic in his enforcement.
“If it’s something offensive, I could see that and guys don’t have a problem with falling in line,” Flowers said, “but when you’re talking about the American flag, or as in my case a Marine Corps decal, I mean people take pride in this — this is America, this is where we work.”
Check out the full report below, courtesy of WFLD:
Controversy surrounds Maywood Fire Department just before 9/11 anniversary02:34
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