Thursday, 4:30 PM
Paraders invited to behave
By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff
Once a year since Sept. 11, 2001, they have come to Boston. At the invitation of Boston’s firefighters union, more than a thousand firefighters from across the country march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in South Boston. They wear full dress uniforms and march in step. They are greeted as heroes.
Along the parade route, partiers invite them to join in a drink or two, and some are happy to oblige. In fact, union officials and some residents of South Boston say the friendliness and warmth of the post 9/11 years has escalated into outright carousing.
They say that increasingly firefighters who come from cities across the country -- largely from New York and New Jersey, but also from Rhode Island, Nevada, and California -- have been caught on film in what some describe as full-blown rowdiness.
"They think it’s Mardi Gras," says Kay Walsh, a South Boston resident who has been trying to bring more decorum to the parade and has helped organize no-alcohol family zones along the route.
This year, parade organizers wrote to several fire departments, including New York’s. The head of the Boston firefighters union took the unusual step of sending a strongly worded warning to those planning to attend this Sunday.
"In years past, the firefighters participation was marred by behavior unbecoming to the image deserving of our proud tradition," says the memo by Edward Kelly, president of Boston Firefighters Local 718. "The feedback from community organizations in South Boston has been loud and clear -- we are embarrassing our uniform! ... This year we intend to march proudly as a unit. If you are not capable of acting accordingly -- please don’t march!"
Fire officials in New York are contrite and said they hope to repair any ill will.
"Those are the same rules we ask our members to do every time they put uniforms on," James Long, a spokesman for the New York City Fire Department said of the Boston union’s memo. "Whether they are in New York or another city, they should act in a dignified manner and uphold the traditions and honor of the Fire Department and the fire service. The members who choose to participate are subject to all department rules and regulations, whether they are on or off duty."
