COVENTRY, R.I. — The Central Coventry Fire District Board Commissioner recently said that he wants the American flag from the back of fire trucks, comparing them to that of ISIS.
To Fred Gralinski, having an American back on the back of a fire truck is un-American; he also referred to firefighters as terrorists, thugs and yahoos, reported the Patch.
“They look like a bunch of yahoos. Like in the paper, like ISIS is Syria going to take over a city. I don’t think they need that big flag on the back of the truck. That’s not America to me. Those are a bunch of terrorists. So, I’m going to ask you to take the flag off the truck,” Gralinski said at a board meeting last year.
Gralinski later apologized for his statements, telling NBC 10 that it was a “poor choice of words.”
A new policy implemented last week calls for any decals or stickers to be approved by the fire chief before being used; there was no mention of flags or decals that are already on trucks.
“All that has to happen is for someone that wants to put a sticker or decal on the first truck to go to the board and ask for permission,” Central Coventry Fire District spokesman Gregg Perry said.
Captain Dave Gorman and Firefighter’s Union President told NBC 10 News that the department has members who are retired from the National Guard who are very upset by the flag issue.
Although Gralinski said that firefighters haven’t been asked to remove flags or decal from the trucks, Gorman said the commissioner asked him to do so in private.
“It shouldn’t even be a conversation. The flags are flying. If you’re American, that’s all that matters,” Gorman said.
A Facebook video posted May 25 on Cranston Scanner depicting Gralinski calling firefighters animals and terrorists. It had been viewed over 7,000 times in 48 hours after it was posted. Moreover, the comments in response were strongly supportive of Coventry firefighters, and expressed outrage over the notion of removing American flags from fire apparatus.
Gralinski’s two sons jumped into the fray with Facebook comments on the video supporting their father’s statements. Brett Gralinski, 35, wrote, “F*ck the flag and f*ck you. You’re pathetic. If you were not (pathetic) then you wouldn’t give 2 sh*ts about a flag on a fire truck.”
The financially troubled fire district is also taking heat for its decision to hire a public relations professional for $135 per hour.
Greg Perry was hired as the district’s spokesperson Wednesday by Gayle Corrigan after the media approached her on the issue at hand.
Gorman and other firefighter critiqued the decision, remarking that, “I don’t think taxpayer money should be wasted on that. There’s many other things.”
However, Gralinski said that the hire was a much-needed decision in light of the controversy over the flags. “I think was kind of a crisis and Gayle actually stepped up.”