In His Arms

ANTHONY J THOMPSON(TONY) was born in Waycross Ga. a family of 8. attended elementary in Waycross, and upstate New York. in 1965 moved to Daytona Beach and was placed in 5th grade instead of 6th (had no records to prove different). I attended old Campbell Street high school and finished at Mainland. From 1973-1975, I served 2 years in the United States Airforce. In 1975 I moved to Atlanta and attended Georgia State College. In 1977 I started in Fire Science program / and Paramedics. Over time I moved back to Daytona Beach and settled down. I was the first African American to retire from Daytona Beach Fire Dept. in March of 2000. After that I started a second career in the Dept. of Juvenile Justice and spent a great deal of time in and out of court rooms in the state of Florida. I also worked as a counselor for Stewart Marchman drug treatment program for Juveniles. I am giving you this brief summary of my life so that you will know that I have seen the best and the worst and I have many stories to tell. After about 35 years of Public service, I noted lots of issues that gave reason for great concern in today's youth. I have 5 Children of my own, (four boys and one girl) and I could have been one of these youths in trouble. I noticed early on that sometimes your children will listen to a stranger before listening to you. In the fire rescue service, I dealt primarily with victims; natural deaths, murders and even delivering a baby. In the Juvenile system, on the other hand, offenders under the age of 18 were committing crimes like murder, home invasions, strong arm robbery, rape and many more serious crimes. Juvenile Justice placed all kids in the same cell no matter what the offense, a misdemeanor or Felony. The kids with misdemeanors were recruited by the kids with greater offenses. (They threatened their lives.) I knew, as a concerned parent, I had to try harder in making my kids and the other kids no matter the race or color understand that on that road they were traveling, the end is death. (Juvenile offenders do about 9 months to a year and a half.). I did a lot of things growing up and went through a lot of things but by the grace of God, I survived and I am leading a life filled with great success and examples of why it is important to stay on the right path. My way of saving our children lives is to tell my story. If I can find my way out of darkness, so can they. Teaching…"Open their eyes, open their hearts, save their lives and show the value of being responsible for themselves and their behaviors". In His Arms, there is peace, grace and mercy.