12/06/2025
Bailey honored for veteran balance
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By Jeff Sullivan
The Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) came by the Norwood Fire Department (NFD) on Monday morning to present NFD Chief Timothy Bailey with the ESGR Patriot Award and an official citation honoring him for his work with active duty soldiers on his staff.
The impetus behind the ESGR and the award is that many employers – sometimes fire departments included – are not always understanding of the commitments U.S. National Guardsmen and Reservists make when they sign up. Many times, according to NFD Captain and U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. First Class Joseph Mawn, employers or managers will try to play soldiers against their commitments or family life in favor of their income.
Bailey said he was “humbled” by the award, and added he did not feel it was a burden or chore to make sure his firefighters could keep their commitments.
“No not really, just treat everyone the same way,” he said. “We have a special group of veterans who work here and it’s a privilege to be their boss.”
About two dozen NFD personnel came out for the award, along with Norwood Veteran Services Agent Derek Wennerstrand. Mawn said Wennerstrand helped provide this honor for Bailey by nominating him with the ESGR.
“I’ve had over three deployments, and then throw in all the weekends, the two-week active duty training, talks at schools, conferences, and all that bologna, with six different chiefs here at NFD, not one of them has given me the ‘you can’t do that,’ or tried to get me to go back to work right away or tried to guilt me into not going to the things I’ve had to go to,” he said. “The only things they’ve said to me are ‘Let me know what you need,’ and ‘Let me know when you’re going to come back.’”
Mawn said this is not always the case.