Everyday Heroes 2018

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HOUSTON COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT FIREFIGHTER VINCENN WALLS By James Simpson, II Journal Staff Writer Vincenn Walls’ journey to becoming a firefighter probably isn’t the most traditional route, however, it’s about getting to the destination of your choice just in time that counts. As a Warner Robins High School dropout at 16 and someone who had some hurdles to overcome in his teenage years, Walls later found his niche in the fire service shortly after turning 18. “My brother-in-law at the time was a firefighter in Peach County and I talked to him briefly about it,” said Walls, who said he never thought he would become a firefighter some day. “That kind of sparked an interest and talking with other people who knew me, it wasn’t something they thought I would actually do but I decided to go ahead with it.” From there on, Walls’ road took him through several stops. “At 18, I got into Peach County’s Recruit Program,” Walls explained. “I went through the recruit program but was not on Peach County’s Fire Staff. They were gracious enough to allow me to be in the Recruit Program because my brother-in-law was full-time with them. I was able to get certified there and then I had to find someplace else to go.” Two weeks after being certified, Walls started with the Fort Valley Fire Department and spent three years full-time there. During that time period, he gained employment as a Peach County Fire Department volunteer, at the same time while working part-time at Byron Fire Department. In January 2013, Walls left Fort Valley Fire Department to make the move to Houston County Fire Department, where he has served for six years. Walls also said that earlier this year, he resigned from the Byron Fire Department. Currently, Walls has multiple jobs serving full-time at the Houston County Fire Department, part-time at Perry Fire Department, and is a volunteer at Peach County Fire Department. “So, I work at a lot of places,” said Walls. In 2016, Walls started an internship with Georgia Fire Academy and was eventually released as an adjunct instructor and has been there Thank You To All The Men And Women That Keep Our County Safe! from Bonnie “Michelle” sMith, esq. Doing What is Right anD FaiR alWays MatteRs... even When no one is looking. WWW.bonniemichellesmith.com (478) 953-3661 www.facebook.com/bonniemichellesmith P.O. Box 8633, Warner Robins, GA 31095 since 2016, where he is an assistant instructor. Certified in 2010 as a firefighter and someone who has been in the fire service for eight years now, Walls has plenty of duties that keep him occupied on a day-by-day basis. “My duties at the Houston County Fire Department are taking care of the station, which we could be slim on personnel at times,” said Walls. “We do pre-plans, install smoke detectors, take care of fire hydrants, train, respond to emergency calls, and just do busy work to keep us occupied.” Walls’ duties at the Academy include “setting up course curriculum, showing students what’s expected of them, and giving pointers and different techniques to complete certain objectives.” For both the Bryon and Peach County Fire Departments, Walls stays on-call and responds to calls in case they need him for an emergency, and at the Perry Fire Department, he picks up shifts as needed. “Striving for more and being able to complete objectives is the most challenging aspect of this job,” said Walls. “I’ve always been the type of person who doesn’t care much about something or cares a lot about something. I’ve been lucky to find the fire service and I’ve been extremely passionate about it. I strive to do more and be active. To train and gain knowledge. I want to be better today than I was yesterday.” Walls expressed the level of responsibility that he carries as a firefighter and likes the idea of making a difference in any capacity he can. “Feeling like you have a value and feeling like you made a difference,” said Walls, regarding the level of positive attributes this occupation can give you. “Just feeling like I helped someone. Even if their home wasn’t lost, some families are just gracious that their animals got out or if you saved some pictures in their house. Some people are appreciative of that and that goes a long way in this line of work. When the good comes around, that’s not taken for granted.” 8 EVERYDAY HEROES <strong>2018</strong> EDH18.indd 8 8/29/18 1:17:10 PM
HOUSTON COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE CHIEF DEPUTY WILLIAM “BILLY” RAPE, JR By KRISTIN MORIARTY Journal Staff Writer Chief Deputy Billy Rape is in his 45th year with the Houston County Sheriff’s Office. He was born in Byron, Georgia, but that’s only because there wasn’t a hospital or many doctor’s offices in Houston County at the time. Other than serving in the Air Force for four years, and working as a special agent with the Atlanta Westport Railroad for a couple of years, he has always lived in Houston County. “My family’s roots run deep here in Houston County,” Rape said. “There’s no other place like it. I graduated from Warner Robins High School in 1964 and then went off to college in Atlanta. But Vietnam was just getting started, and I received my first draft notice. I came back to have my physical done. While waiting for notice of which branch they were going to put me, my friend and I just decided to go ahead and join the Air Force.” Rape joined the Air Force in 1966. He was an electronic technician on the F4 aircraft, and while in service, he deployed to Thailand twice, and served a total of four years. When it came time for him to re-enlist, he decided to move on to a new career. “I enjoyed my time in the Air Force, but I didn’t re-enlist because at that time there was too much of politics involved and not letting the military do what they needed to do,” Rape said. “So I came back home in 1970 and started thinking about law enforcement. My father had been the chief of police for Warner Robins for 17 years, I had always been around it, and thought it would be a good career for me.” Rape first became a special agent for the Atlanta Westpoint Railroad, who later sent him to the police academy. Not long after becoming certified, the railroad transferred him to Montgomery, Alabama. In 1972, Sheriff Cullen Talton ran for office. After being elected in November, he was taking applications for deputies. “I got tired of traveling every weekend from the railroad,” Rape said. “Once I learned Sheriff Talton was taking applications, I immediately put one in and I was blessed to be hired as an investigator.” Rape said originally the Sheriff’s Office started out with three investigators and then expanded to five. At that time there was no chief deputy, just two captains, one over the patrol unit and the other over the investigation unit. “After a couple of years the chief deputy’s position was created,” Rape said. “Our first was Willie Talton. When he was promoted, I was promoted to captain over investigations. I have actually worked in every division over the years except for juvenile. Lucky enough, when Chief Talton retired I was appointed to chief deputy in late 1990s. I have really enjoyed working for the Sheriff and for this office. We are like a family here. Time has flown. If you’d told me my first day that I would be here 45 years, I would have said you’re crazy.” When Rape was an investigator he said he had a variety of cases. Some turned out good while others were tough to handle. One case that he thinks about from time to time involved a young boy who returned home from school to find his mother deceased. “It was ruled a suicide, but everyone we had been interviewing had strong feelings that it wasn’t,” Rape said. “I even had trouble wrapping my mind around that it was a suicide. Well, the man who she had been dating, we found information and tried to make it where we would catch him at home. I had my guys sit on his apartment a whole day but had no luck, so I told them to try again in the morning. Next day they go back, hear music playing in his apartment. The landlord let us in, and we found him and his daughter deceased.” “Through more investigating, we found out that the lady’s sister had called him after it was ruled a suicide,” he went on to say. “While we couldn’t really prove it, our thoughts were, after the sister had called him, he felt guilty and killed his daughter and himself. But what has stuck with me is, had I not pulled my guys off the night before that we might have saved that little girl. It’s a hard burden to take on, but in this business you have to make decisions on the spot a lot of time, and it can be tough.” One thing Rape has always kept in mind and heart is the advice Sheriff Talton gave him and the other two investigators who were sworn in with him on Jan. 1, 1973, which was, “Whatever determines how long we’ll be here is how we treat people.” “That has stuck with me all these years,” Rape said. “It may be ‘corny’ to others, but it has worked for me - it has worked for this whole office because we try to instill that into our deputies when they are first hired on. Even though we have to make arrests sometimes, we always have to think about how it’s going to impact someone’s life. We try to do it with as much compassion and make it as easy as possible.” EVERYDAY HEROES <strong>2018</strong> 9 EDH18.indd 9 8/29/18 1:19:24 PM
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