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Quotes
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[Everyone is at Lou's memorial service]
Tommy Gavin : Well, I don't really have a lot to say but... fortunately Lou does. He left this letter in my locker with specific instructions on it for it not to be opened until after he died. Unlike some people we know I actually obeyed the instructions. So here goes.
[Tommy opens the letter and begins to read]
Tommy Gavin : Dear Tom, if you're reading this it probably means I'm dead. It might have come as a shock to you but I'll tell you right now I was living on borrowed time. My heart went bad a while back. I won't bore you with the details but at this stage of the game I'll be lucky if I finish this goddamn letter. If it wasn't my ticker that did me in please tell me I died after eating fifteen pizzas or during sex with either multiple women or one really big one. Either way that works for me. But seriously I hope I went on the job doing the work I was meant to do surrounded by you and the guys. Since it was mostly about food with me I'm going to leave you guys with a recipe. Take one self-absorbed pretty boy Puerto Rican. Add one-long-on-attitude, short-on-experience black guy. Then add two morons. One more stupid than the other. Mix together and let sit and then finally add one battle scarred, haunted, formerly drunken, Irish asshole who screws up his life like other people breathe. Blend all the ingredients, turn on fire and hope for the best. Sounds like shit doesn't it? Well brother, I've tasted it. I've eaten it up these last few years and it's delicious. Okay cornball I know but you guys together, you have something great. Me being gone doesn't change that. Find yourself another good-looking, slightly overweight, spoiler of women and you're back at full strength. Keep the crew together and keep fighting the fight. Don't worry about me Tom. I had a good life. I knew brotherhood. I knew being good at something. I knew what it meant to have a friend. Yeah, we had our ups and downs and we're in a major down mode at the moment but with you the ups are good enough I'll take the downs. I love you Tom. Not in that way. Okay, maybe a little that way. I'll always be with you. Your pal, Lou. P.S. Don't forget what the bagpipers are supposed to play. If you mess up I promise I'll haunt you forever asshole.
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Tommy Gavin : You are staring at the names of 343 heroes. Three hundred forty-three American heroes. Three hundred forty-three men who ran in while the entire world stood watching and waiting. First responders on the front line of a war that may never end. I want you to stare at these names. I want you to memorize them. Go home tonight. Get on the Internet and look up these names. Find out who these men were and what they did on that day. And then you'll realize: This ain't a job. It ain't an occupation. It's a calling. A need. A desire that you feel in your bones and your brains and your nut-sack.
[Husky Probie laughs. Tommy gets right in his face]
Tommy Gavin : What's so funny, asshole?
Husky Probie : The-The nut-sack thing, sir.
Tommy Gavin : The what?
Husky Probie : The nut-sack thing. Sir, I...
Tommy Gavin : Aaah! Did I ask you another question? Anybody else? I didn't think so. I know you assholes have passed a written test and you passed a physical test. But that don't mean nothing. Just a bunch of civil-servant bullshit! Because the real test of whether you're a chicken shit or not will come the day you get to do what these men behind me did. Because if you're lucky, one day soon, you'll get to run into a burning building while everybody else is running out. And you'll take the stairs. Two at a time. With steel in your eyes and ice water in your veins. And you'll come back down with a civilian on each shoulder. And instead of puking or crying or pissing your pants, you'll wipe your brow and run right the hell back in. That's the day, that's the moment you're gonna find out if you're a real firefighter or just one more asshole who bit off more than he could chew. Because maybe one day, you run in and the guy you ran in with, your buddy, your best friend, cousin, your brother, maybe you come out, but he don't. Because he got crushed or incinerated or burned to a crisp. And you're gonna ask yourself why did I walk away, but not him? I'll tell you one thing the answer to that question is not at the bottom of a bottle. You can't drink or fight or screw your way to figuring out the answer to that question. People die. We're firefighters. We die a lot. I lost my buddy, my best friend, my cousin, my brother. Some people say it's God's will. I don't know. I don't even know if there is a God. I hope there is. Because that would mean one day all this shit is gonna make some sense. That's all I got for you assholes. I'm gonna turn you over to one of my brothers right now, my new commanding officer, Lt. Franco Rivera. Good luck, douche bags.
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Tommy Gavin : You are staring at the names of 343 heroes. Three hundred forty-three American heroes. Three hundred forty three men who ran in while the entire world stood watching and waiting. First responders on the front line of a war that may never end. I want you to stare I want you to memorize them. Go home tonight. Get on the Internet and look up these names. Find out who these men were and what they did on that day. And then you'll realize: this ain't a job. It ain't an occupation. It's a calling. A need. A desire that you feel in your bones and your brains and your nut sack. I know you assholes have passed a written test and you passed a physical test. But that don't mean nothing. Just a bunch of civil-servant bullshit! Because the real test of whether you're a chicken shit or not will come the day you get to do what these men behind me did. Because if you're lucky, one day soon, you'll get to run into a burning building while everybody else is running out. And you'll take the stairs. Two at a time. With steel in your eyes and ice water in your veins. And you'll come back down with a civilian on each shoulder. And instead of puking or crying or pissing your pants, you'll wipe your brow and run right the hell back in. That's the day, that's the moment you're gonna find out if you're a real firefighter or just one more asshole who bit off more than he could chew. Because maybe one day, you run in and the guy your buddy, your best friend, your cousin, your brother, maybe you come out, but he don't. Because he got crushed or incinerated or burned to a crisp. And you're gonna ask yourself why did I walk away, but not him? I'll tell you one thing the answer to that question is not at the bottom of a bottle. You can't drink or fight or screw your way to figuring out the answer to that question. People die. We're firefighters. We die a lot. I lost my buddy, my best friend, my cousin, my brother. Some people say it's God's will. I don't know. I don't even know if there is a God. I hope there is. Because that would mean one day all this shit is gonna make some sense. That's all I've got for you assholes!
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[last lines]
Kenneth 'Lou' Shea : You know you're gonna have to get that fat kid as the new probie right? I mean, none of you assholes can cook. Looks like the kid knows his way around food. You know, you could have mentioned me by name out there. You're talking about heroes and brothers. Blah, blah, blah. Oh, and one more thing. You know, when you pick a photo of me for the plaque you know, in the firehouse? Can you find something that doesn't make me look so chinny? You know?
Tommy Gavin : Chinny?
Kenneth 'Lou' Shea : Yeah, get one from, you know, when I was younger and thinner.
Tommy Gavin : When would that be?
Kenneth 'Lou' Shea : Like freshman year in high school.
Tommy Gavin : Really?
Kenneth 'Lou' Shea : Yeah. I was a buck ten.
Tommy Gavin : Yeah, maybe at birth.
Kenneth 'Lou' Shea : You know, that's no way to talk to the dead. But I'm gonna let it slide since you named my godson Shea Gavin.
Tommy Gavin : Pretty cool?
Kenneth 'Lou' Shea : Very cool. Great name for a restaurant.
Tommy Gavin : Or a quarterback.
Kenneth 'Lou' Shea : I'm gonna go with restaurant. So, you gonna sit here staring at me all day or are we gonna drive some place?
Tommy Gavin : Right. Right yeah.
Kenneth 'Lou' Shea : Duncan Hines Cake Mix huh? Well, I guess that's kinda symbolic or ironic. Not quite sure which.
