“The mission is not over”: Veteran firefighter continues serving his hometown
VA News ·
Air Force Veteran Andrew Lipari continues his mission of service as a Kansas City fire captain, protecting neighbors and supporting fellow Veterans.
As a boy, Andrew Lipari rode his bicycle to the neighborhood fire station where his father worked. Today, after serving as an Air Force firefighter and spending nearly 34 years with the Kansas City Fire Department , he protects the same community that helped shape his calling.
His uniform has changed since he entered the military in 1987. His commitment to protecting others—and his connection to those who served—has endured.
“In my opinion, the mission is not over,” Lipari said.
For Lipari, firefighting was part of family life long before it became a profession. His father served 38 years with the Kansas City Fire Department, and his brother served 32.
With his father’s station close to home, Lipari grew up riding his bicycle and spending time there around the firefighters. He knew early that he wanted to join their ranks.
“It was almost a natural course of things to do,” he shared.
After high school, Lipari found a way to pursue that calling while serving his country. He qualified to become an Air Force fire protection specialist and enlisted in January 1987.
His military career took him to Torrejon Air Base in Spain and Bergstrom Air Force Base in Texas. Those assignments launched a firefighting career that would eventually bring him home.
Lipari separated from the Air Force in September 1991 and remained in Texas for about a year and a half. When an opportunity arose to apply to the Kansas City Fire Department, he took it.
Returning brought him back to his hometown and into the department where his father had built a career.
Now a department captain and aircraft rescue firefighting training officer, Lipari has spent nearly 34 years with the department. Counting his military service, he has worked as a firefighter for more than half his life.
His airport responsibilities also keep him connected to fellow Veterans. He encounters them at special events and Honor Flights departing Kansas City for Washington, D.C. When Veterans gather at the airports, he makes a point of being there.
“When I see somebody is a Veteran, I strike up a conversation so that we could just bond in that way,” Lipari said.
Lipari’s father also served 22 years in the Army, much of that time in the Reserve. His example linked military service with the responsibilities of a community firefighter.
One question his father emphasized stayed with the younger Lipari: “Did you complete the mission?”
For him, that question still applies. Leaving the Air Force didn’t end his commitment to serving others. His civilian career gave him another way to carry it forward.
He continues to seek out fellow Veterans and maintain traditions that remain meaningful to him. He flies the flag at home and still checks his “gig line.”
His connection to the military community also extends to younger firefighters. When they tell him they are Veterans, he takes time to sit down and talk. Those conversations connect people who served in different generations and now share a profession serving their community.
On Oct. 15, Lipari’s civilian responsibilities again intersected with his military background when he participated in VA’s Kansas City Federal Coordinating Center exercise at Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport . An FCC exercise tests how agencies would receive, track and transport patients to area hospitals when demands exceed medical capacity.
The event brought VA, military and community partners together to practice receiving wounded service members and coordinating continued care. For Lipari, participating was another opportunity to serve alongside others preparing to help people in uniform.
Asked what that opportunity meant to him as a Veteran, his answer was direct.
“There’s only one word I can say, and that’s proud,” Lipari said.
Lipari’s continued service takes different forms: carrying out his firefighting responsibilities, showing up at Veterans’ events and making time for conversations with others who served.
His message to fellow Veterans draws on those everyday connections. Contributing doesn’t have to end when military service does, and staying connected can begin with a conversation.
“Keep contributing,” Lipari said. “Just because you separate doesn’t mean you’re done with your military career.”