Lieutenant Edward Walsh and Firefighter Michael Kennedy died fighting a fire in Boston on March 26, 2014.
Mr. Walsh was a devoted family man and youth athletics coach; Mr. Kennedy was an Iraq veteran and Big Brother mentor. Public service doesn’t just indicate their employment, it describes how they chose to live.
“Eddie lived more in 43 years than many of us will do in 80,” his sister said. Mr. Kennedy’s 33 years brim with life as well: “Michael never met a high school he couldn’t be expelled from,” according to his mother.
Today kids can pretend to drive firetrucks at a playground refurbished and renamed in their honor. It’s where Mr. Walsh brought his own children, and where Mr. Kennedy played as a child.
[Photo credits: Firemen’s Memorial – Hantsheroes; Lt. Edward Walsh and Firefighter Michael Kennedy Tot Lot – City of Boston]