News of Members

Tonight, Thursday August 20th, another retired member of the FDNY and member of this site will be on the Youtube "Gettin Salty Program" starting at 8 pm EST.

Garrett Lundgren, aka "69METS", will be the guest speaker.

I first met Garrett in Fla in 2014, where he lives with his wife Nancy. Garrett invited me to join him at a monthly gathering of several retired firefighters, many the FDNY and the surrounding area who now reside in Fla. It was a great time and I think the group is called: "East Coast Retired Firefighters Asso" (?). Anyway, a great group of guys all still into the job. I THANK Garrett for that special invite, that I haven't forgotten.

Garrett's father was also a member of the FDNY, I believe a retired Captain and like so many, Garretts son is now also a career firefighter in Fla.

I believe that Garrett worked for the then NYC EMS in Brooklyn before getting on the FDNY. When he did get on the job I believe he started at Ladder 123, then went to Ladder 33 where he also worked with this site administrator, now Retired Captain John Bendick (who speaks very highly of Garrett), followed by Squad 41 where he worked with, I think then Lt Jack Kleehaas, aka "68jk09". From Squad 41 he went onto Rescue 3.

Garrett like so many was forced to retired from the FDNY as a result of breathing issues caused by the recovery efforts after 9/11.

So friends, if you can tonight tune Garrett in. Another great guy and member of this site, who like so many here, are "still into the job".

If you do miss the live podcast tonight, each show is later put on youtube for your viewing at your convenience.
 
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I hate to miss the live show. We are in rural Wyoming on our circle tour of Big Sky Country and not sure I will be able to stream it here. Knock em dead Garrett!
 
Two thumbs up Garrett, fun show and great stories, I truly enjoyed. Garrett and I worked for NYC EMS before we came on FDNY, although we worked in different sections of Brooklyn, we did share one night working together and getting to know each other in East New York sharing our passion for the FDNY some 42 years ago! The start of our Glory Days!
 
Since the beginning of the Gettin Salty video series, we have had at least THREE Members of this site, that I know of, on that program:
John Calamari - aka "jkal"
Dan Potter - aka "Johnny Gage"
Garrett Lundgren - aka "69METS"

The firehouses and companies that these guys worked at were some of my favorite buff areas of the city because of the high volume of work they did. I learned a lot just by watching you guys do what you did best. I have to wonder that "I'm sure we saw each other in some of those tough, nasty NYC ghetto streets" at one point or another.

The stories and the history of being a firefighter/officer in the FDNY during those times are amazing. We sure do appreciate you sharing them with us. I now look forward to seeing every show.

I'm also glad that the shows are later put on youtube for viewing as well.

I hope at some point, a few more guys from here will also tell their stories on that show. We certainly have with us the kind of guys that are into the job with plenty of years experience to talk about.

I guess along with that, we also need to THANK the Guys who Started It All. I only know them from their Video series as Kevin, Lou, and Pete. If you're out there, "I thank you for bringing the Firehouse Kitchen to our video screens".
 
JohnnyGage said:
Two thumbs up Garrett, fun show and great stories, I truly enjoyed. Garrett and I worked for NYC EMS before we came on FDNY, although we worked in different sections of Brooklyn, we did share one night working together and getting to know each other in East New York sharing our passion for the FDNY some 42 years ago! The start of our Glory Days!
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Thanks Brother. We are blessed to have worked where we did, when we did.
 
nfd2004 said:
Tonight, Thursday August 20th, another retired member of the FDNY and member of this site will be on the Youtube "Gettin Salty Program" starting at 8 pm EST.

Garrett Lundgren, aka "69METS", will be the guest speaker.

I first met Garrett in Fla in 2014, where he lives with his wife Nancy. Garrett invited me to join him at a monthly gathering of several retired firefighters, many the FDNY and the surrounding area who now reside in Fla. It was a great time and I think the group is called: "East Coast Retired Firefighters Asso" (?). Anyway, a great group of guys all still into the job. I THANK Garrett for that special invite, that I haven't forgotten.

Garrett's father was also a member of the FDNY, I believe a retired Captain and like so many, Garretts son is now also a career firefighter in Fla.

I believe that Garrett worked for the then NYC EMS in Brooklyn before getting on the FDNY. When he did get on the job I believe he started at Ladder 123, then went to Ladder 33 where he also worked with this site administrator, now Retired Captain John Bendick (who speaks very highly of Garrett), followed by Squad 41 where he worked with, I think then Lt Jack Kleehaas, aka "68jk09". From Squad 41 he went onto Rescue 3.

Garrett like so many was forced to retired from the FDNY as a result of breathing issues caused by the recovery efforts after 9/11.

So friends, if you can tonight tune Garrett in. Another great guy and member of this site, who like so many here, are "still into the job".

If you do miss the live podcast tonight, each show is later put on youtube for your viewing at your convenience.
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Thank you for your kind words Bill. I love living down south in retirement, but would certainly have enjoyed the get togethers that members of this site do had I still been nearby. Much like Gettin' Salty, NYCFireNet provides us with the kitchen table.
 
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Another top class podcast from Getting Salty. Like Dan aka 'Johnny Gage' Garrett I could have listened all night. Loved listening to your stories especially the early days and about your dad. Well done

On a side note and a little Trivia Garrett my first ever visit to an FDNY house was Eng248 & BN41 thanks to site member 'JohnD248' John Delmhorst who was an Aux there

Like you we were in the house when the Engine got a run and off they went. As we waited in the kitchen the Chief Returned and walked into the kitchen to see us 2 strangers.

We introduced ourselves John said who we were and that I was from Ireland and we chatted away. Soon after the tones went off and the Chief said jump in we'll go "allegedly"

So off we went. Fantastic experience.
 
IRISH said:
Another top class podcast from Getting Salty. Like Dan aka 'Johnny Gage' Garrett I could have listened all night. Loved listening to your stories especially the early days and about your dad. Well done

On a side note and a little Trivia Garrett my first ever visit to an FDNY house was Eng248 & BN41 thanks to site member 'JohnD248' John Delmhorst who was an Aux there

Like you we were in the house when the Engine got a run and off they went. As we waited in the kitchen the Chief Returned and walked into the kitchen to see us 2 strangers.

We introduced ourselves John said who we were and that I was from Ireland and we chatted away. Soon after the tones went off and the Chief said jump in we'll go "allegedly"

So off we went. Fantastic experience.
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Thank you Irish, glad you enjoyed it.
 
Specially liked all the references to your father. As you know, he welcomed me to E 248 as an auxiliary all the back in 1964. I remember your frequent visits to the house. You were a young kid but had a complete set of turnout gear.
 
Great photos. I've often wondered why men wore their hats cocked to one side or other back in the day. Anyone know if that was the style in those years?
 
Cool snaps, thanks Garrett, I thought the same thing about the hats, many WWII photos you see the guys wore their caps askew. Oh yeah, almost forgot, Garrett was a very cute baby......
 
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