By Mark Koopmans

Members of the Brevard County Professional Firefighters Local 2969 stepped up to the plate recently and literally took the shirts off their backs for a good cause.

Both fire crews and support staff came together in support of the military men and women who are stationed overseas, said Lt. Chris Disciascio who works at station 47 on Murrell Road in Viera.

Lt. Disciascio was in charge of coordinating the local response to help a national morale-boosting project called "Hero To Hero," which is based in Washington state.

"I was reading an article about fire personnel from around the country who were donating their uniform shirts in support of our troops," he said. "I looked at the Web site, www.herotohero.us, thought it was a great idea and definitely something Brevard County Fire Rescue could get involved with."

BCFR is the largest fire rescue service in the county, with more than 430 firefighters and support staff and more than 250 volunteers. Firefighters respond to calls for assistance from 33 firehouses throughout Brevard.

After talking with a number of first responders in her hometown of Lakewood, Wash., the project's founder, Liz Jackson, said her idea stemmed from a simple desire to enable stateside heroes to show their support to troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

"More than three years ago, I asked firefighters and police who they considered to be heroes, and the response was, 'The soldiers who signed up and have been deployed overseas since Sept. 11, 2001'" Ms. Jackson said. "Then, asking deployed soldiers who they considered to be heroes, they said, 'When I am deployed, it is the firefighters and police who watch over my family's safety - they're my heroes.'"

She said the mutual admiration between these groups was obvious and her idea was born.

"'Hero To Hero' allows for each group to honor the other - the soldiers wear the shirts of their hometown heroes into battle - and the words of those back home stay with the soldier throughout their deployment," Ms. Jackson said.

As well as firefighters, paramedics and all law enforcement personnel, search and rescue units, Homeland Security personnel, life flight teams, emergency room and trauma teams are all welcome and encouraged to participate.

"Basically, we consider hometown heroes to be anyone responsible for the safety and well-being of local residents," she said. "However, all donated items must have unit logos that bear either city, county, or state names."

After discussing the idea with his chain of command, Lt. Disciascio was given a green light to organize the BCFR effort.

First, he coordinated the T-shirt acquisition and distribution of the shirts, pens and cameras.

Over a three-day period last month, four district chiefs, set up geographically around the county, visited every firehouse and the administration offices in Rockledge.

They snapped pictures, collected patches and stickers, and eventually picked up the all-important shirt, which had, by now, been signed by the crew members of every firehouse.

Once Lt. Disciascio got the shirts back, he developed the pictures, packed the boxes and shipped the package to Ms. Jackson in Washington.

"In turn, we gather and sort all the different packages out," she said. "Then we ship them out, en masse, to the units deployed in the desert. Our most recent shipment was 5,500 shirts in 172 boxes."

And she always encourages people to write messages on their donated items.

"Not only are their words very important to the receiving troops, but it also nullifies the piece as uniform wear," she said. "I was surprised initially with this request, but when I thought about it, it made perfect sense. The troops want to know the shirts truly came off the back of a hero."

Although Ms. Jackson understands most everyone has an opinion about the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, she said this project is not the place to voice any criticisms because Hero to Hero is not a political project and has no political messages.

"We're looking for only words of positive support for our troops," she said. "Right now, folks interested in getting involved may not know them personally, but this is a great way to go out and meet their local firefighters and police officers."

Lt. Disciascio said he received overwhelming support from everyone involved in the shirt drive. He has heard that many of the troops receiving shirts are trading with others to find a shirt closer to their home town.

"These shirts are a show of support and are meant to be worn," he said. "Our union members all said this was a neat thing to be involved with. And it's nice to know that someone from Brevard may well end up with one of our shirts on his or her back."

For operational reasons, some troops are not allowed to wear the shirts. Even if they can't actually put the shirts on their backs, Ms. Jackson said, they are being used as homemade hometown flags.

"However, my favorite is when I hear from troops who say they're dreaming of home," she said. "So they're using the shirts as pillow cases. I think that rocks."

For more information on Operation Hero To Hero, call Liz Jackson at (253) 279-9817, or e-mail herotoherous@aol.com