Young firefighters were forced to become hardened veterans almost overnight when serving in New York City during the politically charged decades of the 1960's and 1970's. The day-to-day dangers we firefighters endured together produced the highest degree of bonding that one can imagine. As "family," we shared the love, and laughter, as well as the tears of each other's personal tragedies. This book also tells how we, as firefighters, shared in the anguish felt by the innocent victims and their families. Fighting accidental fires was a tough enough job, but the embattled firefighters of our city's ghettos had to put up with the politically motivated burnings of buildings on the campuses of some of New York City's most prestigious colleges and universities in the name of civil disobedience. Add to that the rapid expansion of the drug culture, the sexual revolution, the Vietnam War protests, and race riots, and you have a pretty good idea of what the New York City Fire Department was up against.
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