Allan Tarasiewicz - Not Like Any Other

I searched the internet looking for information on Allan Tarasiewicz so that I could attempt to create a post in his memory that would make his family smile. The one thing that kept coming into my mind was that he seemed like an ordinary guy. I mean, I knew that if I met him at the supermarket or just walking down the street, I wouldn't have known that I had just met a hero as he didn't wear an "S" on his chest. He would have seemed like a just a regular guy. But that's not true, he wasn't a regular guy. He was a hero. Not just to his family, his loving wife of almost 25 years Patricia Ann (Patty) Whitfield, not just his daughter Melissa or his son Allan T., and not just to his mother Connie, or his two brothers, Harry Joseph Jr. and Mark, and his sister, Cathy Mizzi-Gili. He was a hero to every child that looked at a fireman and said that's what I want to be when I grow up (as Allan Tarasiewicz did). He was a hero to every man, woman, or child that called for help during the most traumatic events in their lives ~ a fire. He was a hero because Allan Tarasiewicz did the opposite of what the majority of us want to do in the face of danger ~ run in the opposite direction. No, Mr. Tarasiewicz didn't run in the face of danger, he ran into danger because he loved his job, he loved helping people. He was a hero.

I can give you links to several stories that give you the stats of his life: he was 45 when he died. He was the shortest man in his firehouse so the rest of the guys in his firehouse built him a booster step so he could easily climb onto the rig. He was the prankster of the firehouse; one time serving up a meal of breaded chicken cutlets. It wasn't until someone complained about the toughness of the chicken that they found out that they were actually eating breaded and fried dirty, old sponges. He was a member of Rescue 5 (who lost 11 men on 9/11). And he loved being a fireman.

But I think his daughter said it best in her tribute to firefighters:

"Firemen, you are not like any other. You are our heroes, the men all kids dream to be. When everyone's at their weakest, you stay strong and never give up hope. If we could only have more people like you in this world, maybe, just maybe, it really could be a perfect world."

Thank you Mr. Tarasiewicz, for being our hero. May you rest in peace.