The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-06-04

complete as 1t is; the men we have in the service are experi- enced and trained, and a number of them are eligible for retire. ment at this very writing. How do we know when they will ask to be placed on the retired list, and if they retire, and our young CT and well-experienced lot are taken by the draft, what kind of a department will we have left to cope with the great possibilities of fire confronting us every day? We are bound to protect the mu- milton plants of the city and all other properties of the city. We have an exceptional personnel; we do not wish 1t disturbed. Our flremen are needed here at home the same as they are in New York city. We feel the draft board will give consideration to our pleas and if they do not the right of appeal Is there and we hope for an appeal, should any of our men be ordered to join the list of draftees.
 Mayors Letter
 Mayor Scully'S letter follows:
 "As Chief Cavanaugh points out, this question involving mili- tary service on the part of our flremen is of vital importance to the community in view of the fact that 1t is essential that we have the services of @ trained person. mel during what has been termed as & fire war;
 T suggest that the eventual de- cision on these matters should be left to the good judgment of the various selective service boards handling these cases. These boards recognize their responsibil- ity not only to the government but likewise to the community as set forth in the selective service law. It may very well be that the case may arise where 8 Selec- tive service board will not feel that the experience of the par- ticular individual is sufficient to handicap the department.
 However, it should be very clearly brought to the minds of the selective service board that there are men in the fire depart ment who have received a very definite fire training and that they are irreplaceable for a num- Der of years to come, in view of the fact that it takes from three to five years to train a fireman to do the job that is required in {. highly industrialized community such as Waterbury. I suggest that your board cause these ques. tions to be called to the attention of the selective service boards by filing the necessary papers, and in addition thereto, I would point out to the selective service board that the charter of the city leaves 1t so that we cannot appoint any, one inf the place of @ fireman who is called away. He will undoubt- edIy receive e leave of absence from the board for the duration of the war but in the meantime we not only lost his trained serv- ices which cannot be replaced, but we must keep the position open. It is true that callmen may be resorted to but it is obvious that people who are called upon to do the work of callmen will require a number of years of training be- fore they are capable of adequate ly replacing trained men.
 T call Chief Cavanaughs let- ter particularly to your attention because 1t evidences a keen sense of responsibility on the part Of the chief and brings strikingly to our attention the importance or retaining, as far as possible, even in war times, a trained perSonnei which by virtue fexperience, IS able to cope with the demands that only experience can ade- uuateIy handle. I have no desire to suggest to you that people who are in the status of inexperienced men should receive any preferen. tial treatment, but l do submit that in the interest of the cofn- munity that trained tiremen should have heir experience and need to the community and the diftaculty of replacing them with adequately trained people proper ly brought to the attention of the Sc selective service board"