Thursday, October 1, 2026
For members of the Oceanside Fire Department, the Nassau County Firefighters Association Parade was about much more than fire trucks rolling down Long Beach Road.
It was about community — and for Baldwin resident and 101-year-old World War II veteran David Marshall, it was also a chance to celebrate the people and traditions that have remained important throughout his life.
Hosted by the Oceanside Fire Department on Aug. 8, the parade brought 25 fire departments from throughout Nassau County to Oceanside as part of a celebration honoring the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The day featured food vendors, children’s activities, community groups, a concert and fireworks. But at its heart was a celebration of Nassau County’s volunteer fire service and the residents who support it.
“It’s a parade for all of Nassau County,” Oceanside Fire Department Chief Kevin Klein said.
Marshall, a Baldwin resident since the 1960s and a member of Oceanside Jewish War Veterans Post 717, attended the celebration and reflected on the significance of being there.
“I’m just so happy to be here,” Marshall said. “I’m alive to be here. It really is a pleasure, a distinct joy.”
Marshall’s presence added a special connection to the patriotic celebration. He was drafted into the Army in 1943 and served with the 84th Infantry Division, known as the Railsplitters. He spent 170 days in combat during the war and later received numerous military honors, including the Bronze Star.
After the war, Marshall attended City College, where he studied chemistry. He eventually built a career designing machinery for cosmetics companies and raised his family. He moved from Queens to Baldwin in the 1960s, where he has remained for decades.
While Marshall’s story spans generations, the parade offered a look at another tradition built around service: Nassau County’s volunteer fire departments.
Outside of responding to emergency calls, the Nassau County fire departments have continued to remain involved in community events, taking part in activities with the local schools, supporting local sports teams, attending homecoming celebrations and helping with community service projects.
“We feel very strongly that if we can interact and meet our community members in a more relaxed, friendly scenario, that they may recognize faces,” Klein said.
That familiarity can be especially meaningful if firefighters eventually find themselves responding to residents’ homes during emergencies.
“They may know who’s coming to their house when there’s an emergency, and obviously that makes things a lot easier for both sides,” Klein said.
The department’s community involvement also helps introduce younger residents to the possibility of joining the department later on as volunteer firefighters. Klein said children who grow up seeing firefighters at school events, football games, car washes and community celebrations may eventually consider becoming volunteers themselves when they are old enough.
“They may say, ‘Oh, you know, these are good people. We want to be part of this,’” Klein said.
That message of volunteerism was particularly important to former Oceanside Fire Department Chief and parade committee Chairman Pat Madden.
Madden, who joined the department in the early 1990s, recalled the excitement surrounding fire department parades when he was younger. He said he was immediately drawn to marching in uniform while crowds gathered along the streets to cheer.
“I was hooked after the first parade,” Madden said. “You felt, you know, you’re dressed in your blue and everybody’s cheering you.”
Decades later, Madden and Klein said the tradition of fire department parades has become less common as volunteer departments face the realities of modern life.
“Unfortunately, like a lot of other things as far as volunteering, the parades are kind of dying off,” Klein said.
For Madden, that made Oceanside’s celebration even more meaningful.
The members of the department are the same people residents see around town every day — neighbors, parents, friends and co-workers who give their time to help others.
“We are strictly volunteer,” Madden said. “We miss dinners, we miss engagements sometimes, miss sleep, to put our community first.”
The event also gave firefighters from different departments an opportunity to reconnect. Many of the departments regularly work together during emergencies, assisting one another through mutual aid and providing standby coverage for events.
Klein said that camaraderie is an important part of the volunteer fire service.
“Just to get together with some of the other departments is just a great event, especially outside of an emergency,” he said.
As the parade wound through Oceanside, residents had the chance to cheer on firefighters from their own community as well as departments from across the county, serving as a reminder that behind every uniform is a volunteer who chose to give back.
