The View from my Front Porch - Join Dr. Harry Carter as he shares his wisdom from personal and fire service life experiences.
-
Stay with it My Friends
By Dr. Harry Carter - Sunday April 14, 2013
Life teaches a great many lessons to those who will pay attention. There was a time when I felt that good things should happen to me just because I was a good guy. My parents taught me to do the right things; to be honest and hardworking. Guess what? Things did not always go my way. It seemed to me that a lot of folks who were not raised like I was were getting all of the good breaks. Do not get me wrong. I had my share of success, but it bothered me that others who did not seem to work as hard as I did often came in ahead of me. Thankfully I was raised before today's 'touchy-feely' philosophy, which tells us that 'everybody wins, all are treated fairly and equally, and everybody gets a trophy', was developed. I think that this philosophy... -
Carter: We Must Take Care of our Troops on Highways
By Dr. Harry Carter - Wednesday March 27, 2013
Let me turn the focus to an operational area which is frequently overlooked by our fire service leaders. I am referring to our operations on the highways of our operational districts. Many times we are called out to combat car fires and to conduct extrication and rescue operations at motor vehicle incidents and accidents. Let me suggest that need to create operational guidelines to covers these things. Let me also suggest that training and equipment are needed to insure that our people are ready to conduct operations in these areas. Let me suggest that my comments are based upon a great deal of current experience. It seems like it is my lot to spend a lot of time driving the highways and byways of my community. It also seems as though... -
Hey Coach: Put Me In
By Dr. Harry Carter - Thursday March 7, 2013
Let me pose a simple question to you. How many of you can remember sitting on the sidelines during a football game and yelling out to the coach "Hey coach, put me in; I can get the job done"? I do not know about you, but it has been a long time since I suited up and ran out onto the field as a defensive tackle. As a matter of fact, I believe that Lyndon Johnson was president at the time. Maybe it wasn't football, perhaps it was some other sport, but the act was the same. We wanted the coach to pay attention, so we yelled. Sometimes this worked and sometimes it made the coach mad. What was it that made the coach so important? On the one hand he controlled any possible shot you had it playing in the game you loved so much. On the other... -
I Have the Right to Change My Mind: Don't I?
By Dr. Harry Carter - Wednesday February 6, 2013How many times have you faced a situation where the facts told you that something you had decided to do was wrong? You used the proper decision-making skills, you gathered the necessary facts, and you made the decision in the proper way; the way you had been taught to make decisions. Yet, in spite of all of that, the problem you attacked did not respond to your approach. In such as case, you would revisit the decision-making process and find another alternative. Now let's suppose that you are suddenly faced with a challenge to one of your core operational values - something that you were taught way back when. The facts indicate that your old way of doing things, your old way of thinking was now wrong or obsolete. Think about it. There... -
Carter: Saying Farewell to My Best Friend
By Dr. Harry Carter - Thursday December 13, 2012
Following is the eulogy that Harry Carter will be giving at the memorial service for Jack Peltier on Saturday, Dec. 15 at Immaculate Conception Church in Marlborough, MA. Carter asked that we share this on Firehouse.com so that their buddies who are unable to attend the service will have the opportunity to read it. How does any man say good bye to his best friend in the whole world? This is a question which has haunted me since late Sunday evening when I got that fateful call from (Jack's son) Jim. To that end I have decided to share some thoughts which you that have come to me based upon our many years of being together as we traveled the road of life together. Having spent nearly a month traveling across America with Jack on our...
