When Serge Morosoff, an Orange County Fire Authority firefighter, entered the home of an 81-year-old man on a recent medical aid call, he couldn’t help but notice the non-commissioned officer sword hung high among plaques and photographs, each connected to the veteran’s Marine Corps service.
Every few months now, Morosoff, who retired from the Marines in 2020 after 25 years, 10 deployments and a battalion command – enters the home of a fellow veteran when responding to 9-1-1 calls. It’s a reminder, he said, of the brotherhood he dedicated his life to while connecting him to a new purpose of service.
“Sometimes I come upon an old Marine that was special, like a guy that fought in Iwo Jima,” he said. “Makes me feel like I’m caring for a national treasure and the last of a dying breed. It’s amazing ’cause I studied that battle, and I stood on the shoulders of giants like them. They survived all that, defeated fascism, defeated Communism, built a life, and raised a family, and here they.
“I tell the crew about those ones.”
Morosoff, of San Clemente, is among at least 100 military veterans the OCFA has hired in the last couple of years. Fire Chief Brian Fennessy said his agency, which serves about two-thirds of Orange County cities, interviews 3,000 and 4,000 firefighter candidates each year and he makes special notes of those who are veterans.
“Veterans with real-life experiences are going to have qualities not found in a person that’s 18- to 20-years-old. Especially Marines – you’re inducted into leadership from boot camp on,” Fennessy said. “I’ll ask them about their core value. To an average applicant, I have to explain what that means. The military veterans, they get that right from the beginning.”
Keep on serving
Fennessy, who has been with the OCFA since 2018, said he puts a premium on hiring military veterans. That started eight years ago when he was chief of the San Diego Fire Department. There, he worked with…
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