A Daughter’s Tribute to Her Father, the Unsung Hero

“I remember as a little girl, my father was always one to get involved. Whether it was to chase down a hit-and-run driver in the family car [with the family in the car], or taking in a homeless person, he is one who is always there whenever a friend is in need.”

When she started scribbling down her thoughts last Monday, Linda Chaney wasn’t sure where they were going. She only knew that her father, Jack Cole, was in the Lemon Heights area of Orange County and that, once again, he’d found himself in the middle of trouble. And she knew that, just like when she was a kid, he had dived in to help.

This time it was to fight the fire that would destroy 10 homes and threaten numerous others. Her father, a construction crew foreman from El Monte, was in the neighborhood working on his son’s home.

Chaney, who lives and works in the Palm Springs area, found out from her sister that their dad had taken his five-member crew and, after extinguishing the fire at his son’s house, rushed off to save other homes on the block.

So, even while at work, Chaney, 37, started jotting down her thoughts on her father. On the way home from work, she jotted down some more. They seemed to be the spontaneous products of the mix of emotions she was feeling, knowing he was probably risking his life.

Feeling both pride and fear over her father’s involvement, she would say later her notes represented “a way for me to be close to him, just to let him know my feelings. It was my way to be close to my father that day and to experience what he was doing.”

The story has a happy ending.

After several hours on the scene, Cole returned home safely. He and his crew helped wet down some hot spots and believe they prevented other houses from being lost. He told his family about the chaos, the screaming, frightened residents and how it had been hard to see because of the wind and smoke. It was, he told them, like a war zone.

In a while, Chaney had formulated her thoughts into what amounted to a tribute to her father. For all the other unsung heroes out there, I thought you might enjoy reading what one daughter had to say about her father:

“I have wondered at times why my dad is always where help is needed. My faith tells me God has bestowed on my father quite a special gift. Dad gets involved no matter what the cost. So I sit here at work today, safe from harm and without worry, only to find out my father, once again, this time is helping to fight a fire. There he goes again, at the right place at that most crucial moment.

“I can just picture them out there with the strong blowing wind, faces gray from falling ashes, lungs burning from inhaling smoke and muscles sore from the rigorous physical work. . . . It puts a lump in my throat just thinking of them.

“I know for a fact, if it wasn’t for my dad and his crew, there would have been far more homes on the list of fatalities today. I guess you would say they’re the unsung heroes. My dad is one of the many this day to keep a bad situation from turning disastrous. He saves his son’s home and many others in the area. Dad came home tonight and wept [something he never does], due to the emotional letdown of the day. Thoughts rolling through his mind of himself and his crew mates out there risking their lives to save homes of strangers. These strangers will sleep in their beds tonight not knowing of how these few brave men saved their most priceless possessions.

“I wish they knew.

“Everybody has their heroes. I’m proud to say, my dad is mine.”

Linda Chaney saw her father later that day. She showed him her tribute letter, and he began reading it. He began to cry and said he’d finish it later.

Chaney laughs that it was a few hours later before she heard from him.

“It took him a while to pick it up and finish it,” she said. “He called and said, ‘I love you. This is great. Thank you very much.’ ”

“My father has always been one to get involved,” she said. “He’s never had any recognition. I think this was my way of hoping that he would privately, between him and me, get some recognition--from his daughter, if not from anyone else.”

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by writing to him at the Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or calling (714) 966-7821.