Hoover Chamber presents Freedom Award

The Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce presented this year’s Chamber Freedom Award to former Hoover firefighter and Gulf War veteran Michael Thorin.

The Chamber Freedom Award is given each year to a public servant of Hoover who is dedicated to the ideals of freedom. The award was started in 2003, and each year the Chamber’s Freedom Luncheon is sponsored by Regions Bank.

Hoover Fire Department Executive Officer Rusty Lowe said Thorin deserved the award because during his six-year career with the department, he was always willing to work.

“At any time, Michael was ready, willing and able to assist in any detail above and beyond his job description,” Lowe said. “His ability and performance as a firefighter paramedic was outstanding.”

Thorin faced a difficult decision, Lowe said, when his health began to affect his work in 2014. Thorin retired in August 2014.

“Michael had to make the decision and come forth to report that his job performance was being affected as a firefighter paramedic,” Lowe said. “He feared that he could not adequately perform his job and he was placing himself, his coworkers and the citizens in danger.”

After accepting the Freedom Award from Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey, Thorin thanked the Chamber for the honor and discussed his career with the Hoover Fire Department, U.S. Army and Alabama Army National Guard.

“At this time in my life, it’s an honor to be chosen for an award of this nature, and to be able to represent the U.S. Army, the Alabama National Guard and the Hoover Fire Department,” he said. “Everything I’ve always done has been to do the best I can for whatever situation I’ve been in, to try and improve it no matter how I can.”

Thorin said he prefers to talk with other people, rather than talk about his achievements. Learning more about people, listening a lot and occasionally joking helped him connect to others, he said, especially while he was in the military.

“I learned when soldiers were beaten and battered, when you saw a decline in the way they operated or performed, or you could just tell they had a great deal on their minds, that I had to temporarily divert their attention to get their minds back on the task at hand,” Thorin said. “And of course, one of the ways to do this is with humor.”

Due to his illness, Thorin requires an oxygen tank and cane, but he continued to make jokes during his speech.

“A lot of that requires me to use the cane, that I can use when I feel lazy or dizzy, but I was instructed by the VA that I cannot use the cane if I feel both at the same time,” Thorin said.

He said despite the difficulties he faces, he knows he fares better than some of the men he served with. Entering the military requires giving up some bit of freedom and sometimes more, Thorin said, but it is worthwhile to protect the freedoms of people at home. When asked if serving in the military was worth it, given his illness, Thorin said just saying “yes” isn’t sufficient.

“I don’t want to just say yes without telling why because it would devalue all the sacrifices that I and my brothers made in coming to this point in my life,” he said. “I’ve made it a lot further than some of my brothers, so when you look at me, none of this that I’m going through is anything compared to what they went through.”

The next Hoover Chamber Luncheon is Aug. 20 at 11:30 a.m.