Looking back 10 years: An interview with a firefighter’s widow

Family photo of John and James Carter

After 35 years of doing this I have covered a lot of stories. Of course, some of them are more memorable than others. When people ask me about those, I almost always mention the interview I did on Sunday, October 26, 1997.

Two days earlier, DCFD Sgt. John Michael Carter died in the basement of a burning building at 5th and Kennedy Streets, NW. That Sunday, Kenny Cox, a vice-president of IAFF Local 36, called to say that Carter’s widow Debbie would like to talk with me about her husband. And talk she did. How this woman was able to stay composed to tell us about the love of her life, I will never know. As I have said many times since, we all should have someone speak so eloquently on our behalf once we our gone.

While Debbie didn’t shed a tear, many who watched it did. Click here to see the interview from ten years ago.

To see pictures from today’s ceremony marking John Carter’s death, click here or you can also visit DCFD.com.