Ceremony joins heroes, firefighters

By FRANK JULIANO
Article Last Updated: 10/25/2007

(John Galayda/Connecticut Post)

MILFORD — Heroes come in all shapes and sizes.

Austin Lathrop, 13, saved his dad's life by performing CPR a week after he learned it in his seventh-grade class at East Shore Middle School.

Rick George, the city's assistant animal control officer, and Dr. David Hendricks, a good Samaritan, tended to an injured motorcyclist after witnessing an accident.

And Michael Geanocopoulos and Gary Baker searched a collapsed house for occupants. They were all among the many firefighters and civilians commended for bravery and dedication during the Milford Fire Department's annual awards ceremony Thursday night in City Hall.

Baker, a captain in the department, accepted his award wearing another uniform — his kilt from the New Haven County Firefighters Emerald Society — after playing his bagpipes during the procession.

Geanocopoulos accepted his award a few minutes after he took the oath to become a city firefighter, ending a year of probation. Also sworn in as new firefighters during the ceremony were Eric Mohr, Dan Talaniec, Adam Hansen, Kyle Wengenroth and Ryan LaGuardia. "The probation was a year, but the training never ends," Wengenroth said.

LaGuardia was presented with the Michael C. Reilly Hard Charger Award as the top recruit. The award is named for a former member of the Stratford Fire Department who became a New York City firefighter after serving with the U.S. Marines in Iraq. Reilly, 25, was killed in a building collapse in August 2006.

Several men received promotions Thursday night, including William D. Healey to battalion chief. Dan DelVecchio took the oath of captain, Lawrence Lester as superintendent of apparatus and David H. Eisenhandler as assistant superintendent.

The fire department's Special Services Unit, staffed by retirees known as the Dinosaurs, served coffee and pastry to the guests outside City Hall. Carlos Smith, who retired four years ago, was among the older men serving the refreshments. "It's a great career," he said, nodding at the new firefighters.