Chicago Tribune Reporter's Story A Real Christmas Present

I work for Leo High School on the south side - the home to many Chicago Firemen and especially the greatest fireman of all, retired Commissioner James T. Joyce - and Chicago Tribune reporter Tracy Dell'Angela's 12/21/06 story 'Fired Up for Service' is especially wonderful at a time when readers are avalanched with sagas of lazy, violent, self-absorbed people - young and old. We get daily treatments of the whinners like Rosie, Oprah, The Donald, 'Tank,' Lohan, Paris, and assorted other materialistic losers. Dell'Angela's story of a real hero, eighteen year old Keith Thornton is an inspiration. Here is a quote from a young man who has volunteered thousands of hours of his free time to help Chicago Firefighters help Chicagoans.

"There's no guarantee I'm going to be a firefighter," he said. "But it was never about the money. It was about helping out. I would definitely say the Fire Department has kept me on track. A lot of my friends used to do drugs and drinking, but I would talk to them about what I do here, and I tell them, `You can do whatever you want in life.'"

Says it all. Tracy, you made a huge fan in this reader. Read this great story!


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0612210052dec21,1,3629467.story?coll=chi-newslocal-hed