OREGON—Firefighter/EMT Greg Hunter’s wife Lyn presented him with his official state medal as the Illinois VFW’s EMT of the Year during a special event on March 3 at Oregon Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8739, the local organization that initiated the nomination process.
Hunter, 65, received the medal at the Post from Senior VFW Vice Commander Lee Ossmann, Assistant VFW Quartermaster Robert Coulter, and Oregon Fire Chief Michael Knoup.
“Greg won the award at the local level and then went on to compete and won the state award for EMT of the year from the VFW,” according to Knoup.
“I’m just a little bitty cog in all this,” Hunter remarked after receiving his certificate from Ossmann and having his wife pin the medal to his dress uniform. “These are amazing individuals. It’s good for my wife to meet you – some of you men… who keep me alive out there. “Thank you.”
Hunter is the first nominee from the Oregon VFW Post to receive the state award.
“We nominate them at the local level, and if they win, they advance to the state level, where Greg won. “It’s pretty amazing,” Knoup stated.
“That’s quite prestigious. “Obviously, you impressed someone,” one onlooker commented.
“It’s easy to shine with these guys,” Hunter explained.
“His resumé is so long they got tired of reading it,” one of his pals joked, while others laughed.
Hunter worked as a conservation police officer for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for 26 years before volunteering with the department after retirement.
“I was promoted to park ranger in 1981,” he told me. “I was a firefighter/EMT for seven years while I was a park ranger before I was hired by the conservation police.”
Hunter has an extensive military background.
“My entire family is military. “I’m proud of that,” he said. “I desperately wanted to be a park ranger, and there was no war going on at the time. As a result, my family generally agreed that this type of labor was okay. It is still serving the public, albeit in a little different way.”
Hunter’s father worked in the Air Force.
“My dad was in the Air Force, and he was very, very proud of his service,” Hunter told me. “He raised me to be a servant and take care of things. He expected me to join the military someday, but when I didn’t, and instead chose this path, he was always pleased of me.”
He also has an uncle who was an EMT and firefighter.
“He really encouraged me to do this,” Hunter added. “God gave me a gift to serve others. I’ve always been good at assisting others. “I’m glad I can still do it.”
Hunter first learned that he had been nominated for the award during a training session at the Oregon station.
“There was a letter sent from the VFW to the chief apparently, and that’s the first time I heard of it, which was three weeks ago at our training night when he announced it. I had no idea,” Hunter said.
He plans to continue working as a firefighter.
“I just turned 65,” Hunter said. “[Firefighting] is a young person’s job. Thankfully, I am in pretty good shape and I work with some wonderful people here. I don’t have an end date.”
Hunter said Lyn and their two children, Breanne and Shelby, have always been supportive of his work.
“They support me 100 percent,” he said. “They worry just like everybody worries, but I have been in this business long enough that they are kind of used to it now.”
Knoup called Lyn to ask her some details for his background bio before the award was announced.
Hunter was out of town taking part in a high-risk training for the fire department, and Lyn was teaching when Knoup called.
“The chief called Lyn when she was at the school working to ask some questions, and she thought something happened to me,” Hunter recalled.
“I pretty much gave her a heart attack,” Knoup said laughing. “She had a whole class in front of her, and I didn’t think about it being a school day and she was working. And she asked, ‘Is he OK?’”
“I had the whole class in front of me. I asked if I could call him back,” Lyn said laughing.
“So, I apologize,” Knoup said.
Knoup also thanked Lyn for her support of her husband’s service with the fire department.
“I really appreciate her understanding, because her understanding allowing him to come help as much as he does is huge,” Knoup said.
