In the fire service, every call, every shift, and every story matters. But what happens when those stories fade—when the voices behind them retire, relocate, or pass away?
In Greensboro, NC, a dedicated group of firefighters has answered this call with a sense of urgency. They recognize that fire department history is perishable and, without deliberate action, invaluable stories risk being lost forever.
Here’s the way Retired Battalion Chief Larry Cockman put it in a February 2020 article in Firehouse Magazine: “There is definitely a void when a firefighter goes back to the firehouse after retirement and no one knows their name.” These irreplaceable stories risk fading into silence if they remain undocumented.
Stories That Matter in Greensboro
What began as a book project by the Greensboro History Book Committee evolved into something far more dynamic: a series of video interviews, capturing the voices and experiences of retired firefighters. Retired Captain Harold Haynie and active-duty firefighter Lamar Sullivan joined Cockman in this effort. As of February 2020, the team had conducted 18 interviews, comprising dozens of hours of audio-visual history, and plans were in motion for 45 more.
Fast forward to 2025: The history book committee has evolved into a nonprofit organization, the Greensboro Firefighters Historical Society. The group of historians has now interviewed 92 retirees from the Greensboro Fire Department, representing more than 2,700 years of combined service and institutional memory.
Reflecting on the project, Cockman shared with Firehouse Magazine that one of his favorite experiences while witnessing the retirees’ reactions: “I can see their happiness as they recount their days in the fire service. .. We ask them about 26 questions … their memories, both good and bad, about their experiences on and off the job. They tell us about the hardest calls they’ve been on and some of the pranks they’ve pulled on one another.”
The NFHC Applauds This Undertaking
At the National Fire Heritage Center, we echo this urgency. Whether you are part of a volunteer company or a municipal fire department with centuries of service or a newly formed department building its legacy, your history matters. It deserves to be remembered, studied, and shared.
The National Fire Heritage Center applauds Chief Cockman, Captain Haynie, and Firefighter Sullivan of the Greensboro Fire Department for recognizing the critical need to save the fire service’s rapidly vanishing history and for taking concrete steps to archive the department’s past.
Let’s follow their lead and preserve the past before the memories are gone and the stories are lost. Don’t wait until it’s too late.
Biographical Note: Larry Cockman was the chairman of the committee. He served as Driver/Engineer, Rescue Squad, Captain, Battalion Chief, and Assistant Chief. I retired with 32 years of Service as Battalion Chief. I have a BS in Fire Administration from the University of Maryland and was selected as North Carolina State Firefighter of the Year in 1987.
Editor’s Note — Be sure to check out the Greensboro Firefighters’ Historical Society page, where the committee has posted its video recordings of the interviews. Here’s the link to the archived interviews. The site also has excellent information on the Greensboro Fire Department’s history.
Currently, Larry and the committee are actively recording the department’s history, and he would be pleased to pass on advice to others working on or considering their own historical projects.
Contact Larry Cockman at:
Email: lcockman@hotmail.com
Phone: 336-509-6674
