Warning, Proud Parent blast

OK, sorry to brag, but I am so proud of my 18 year old son who last weekend got awarded his fourragere braid and corporals stripe as a sapeur pompier - french fire fighter.

He has worked hard for this, joined as a cadet at 13, under a little bit of pressure from us to do an activity after school. Got hooked and was there at the barracks every Saturday learning techniques, team work and discipline. Did his brevet at 17 and was accepted into the local barracks, 4 km away. He could not go on call til he turned 18 but he spent hours there just watching the calls come in, and cleaning the trucks after they came back. On his 18th birthday, he was allowed drive the ambulance into the yard to get it out for a shout.
Since then he has been a volunteer every weekend when he is home from uni' and done every course he is allowed - fire simulation, crash extractions, forest fires, as well as advanced first aid. And doing actual call outs now, so we hear a beeper and three minutes later the slam of a door at three am.
Anyway, he was promoted in March to corporal, the youngest in the region, and on Saturday he went to Quiberon to get his stripe. Here he is with his Dad, both grinning like idiots.

Brag over, thank you for your time.☺