CAROGA LAKE — Marcus Putnam was honored in the Memorial Day Parade Saturday in more ways than one. Not only is he a veteran of World War II, he is also the last living member of the first Caroga Lake Volunteer Fire Company.
“They’re all gone now,” Putnam said as he sipped his usual breakfast hot tea at Tammi’s Diner in Caroga Lake on Memorial Day, Monday. He was referring to the original contingent of volunteer firemen from the 1950s.
“We didn’t have much in the way of equipment to fight fires back then,” Putnam said.
The new fire house and trucks on Route 29A, just south of the new Dollar General, stands to show the progress the fire company has made over the years since Putnam was one of the founding members.
Emergency Medical Services Fireman John Delesky of the CLVFC acknowledged Putnam’s original contribution to the fire company.
“He was one of the founding members who formed the volunteer fire company back in 1951,” Delesky said.
Putnam gave a nod to Delesky, stating it was Delesky who asked him to ride in the lead fire company vehicle as the parade’s guest of honor. The parade was organized by former Fire Chief Barb DeLuca.
Referring to his service in WWII, Putnam said he was a veteran of the U.S. Navy stationed in Guam. His best memories of the time in service were about conflict of another sort, however.
“I was on the Navy softball team,” he said. “We played all over against other teams from the other services.”
Putnam said he even got to play softball for the team in Hawaii.
“Lot’s of teams came to play against us in Guam,” he said.
Putnam referred to one other founding fire company member to illustrate the spelling of his name.
“Charlie Putman was in the original fire company too. He’s gone now. People always want to spell my last name like his,” Putnam said. “They spell my first name wrong first, then they spell my last name wrong!”
Born in 1924, Putnam will celebrate his 97th birthday this August. A good cause for celebration for the last fireman standing from the original Caroga Lake Volunteer Fire Company.
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