McCarville: My Tenacious Grandson

Mike about to be “pinned” with his badge by brother Colby and wife Brandi.

By Mike McCarville

Grandson Michael repeatedly was knocked down. He kept getting up.

On Wednesday, his tenacity and belief in himself paid off as he was granted his badge as an Oklahoma City firefighter.

Mike sought to  become a firefighter for years. Paid his own way through the vo-tech Firefighters Academy, but with jobs tight due to budget constraints, couldn’t connect with a department. And he tried. Over and over. Any opening, he tried. No luck.

And then he applied with the Oklahoma City Fire Department, was accepted for training and on Wednesday, completed his first 17 weeks as a trainee. He’ll now spend a year as a probationary firefighter.

All of my over-achieving grandkids have had their special days. Wednesday was Mike’s special day.

Congratulations, Mike. You make us proud.

From The Oklahoman: The Oklahoma City Fire Department welcomed 58 recruits into the ranks as they graduated after 17 weeks of rigorous training.

A ceremony held Wednesday at Oklahoma City Community College marked the transition from recruit to firefighter for the class.

“These firefighters trained hard and will be great assets to the Oklahoma City Fire Department and to the city of Oklahoma City,” training Lt. Steve Harris said.

He went on to add that in addition to all of the strenuous training and test taking, the recruits logged a combined 7,014 miles of running during their time at the training academy.