Castiglione Retires

Wedding Day

Well, this is coming a little late but then again…so did Mitch. What can we say about Mitch? You could break his chops about showing up on “Mitch Time”…and we did. You could break his chops about how particular he was about every minute detail, of anything…and we did. You could break his chops about his dog Buster who he brought to firehouse “family” functions…and we did. You could count on him in a fire…and we did. Most of the guys who worked with Mitch before 9-11 have transferred to other firehouses or retired, but if you ask the guys with time on how they would describe Mitch they use one word…FIREMAN.
Growing up in Brooklyn as a boy Mitch’s Mom would drop him off at his Uncle Sam’s firehouse (E243/L168) and he would wait for him to get off duty so he could go home with him to play with his cousins. Mitch used to sit in the back of L168’s tiller and pretend to be responding to fire calls. Little did he know that years later, after a brief stint doing his best Ralph Kramden imitation as a NYC Bus Driver, he would be driving a real fire engine.
Mitch joined the FDNY officially March 25, 1990. Shortly thereafter he walked through the doors of Ten House and started his career as a member of Engine 10. There to guide him was Vinny Geloso, who had made the same walk through those doors only three months earlier himself. A friendship was formed with Vinny (one that would bear a wonderful coupling of two special people) along with Gary Kolsch and Paul Pansini (Paul perished 9/11 with E26) that would stand the test of time & tragedy. They were like the 4 Musketeers except Mitch was the only one with a bad mustache. He was working for both attacks on the Trade Center (2/26/1993 & 9/11/2001) and the morning (5/17/2007) a 16’ piece of sprinkler pipe burst through Ten House’s roof from the Deutsche Bank building next door like a Patriot missile.
Mitch took his fair share of firehouse ribbing and then some. He always took it like a man; even when it was from a smart-mouthed Johnny like myself who may not have always shown him the respect that he deserved. That didn’t stop Mitch from showing every man the respect that they deserved. You learn a lot of little lessons while you go through your career and life. Some are obvious, like touching hot things will burn you. Some are not so obvious, like treating everyone with respect, regardless of how much or little time they have on the job, is the real way to be a man.
On February 16th of this year Mitch married his beautiful wife, Barbara, who he was introduced to by his good friend & Best Man, Vinny Geloso. A special thanks goes out to E165 of Staten Island for letting them take a wedding picture with their rig. On April 22nd at 0900 hours Mitch officially retired from the FDNY but he will always be a welcome member of Ten House. His retirement couldn’t have come at a better time for him. As if it wasn’t a hectic enough year for him…at the tender age of 45, Mitch found out that he was going to be a father for the first time (sorry Mitch…Buster doesn’t count). Their due date is December 31st but if the baby is anything like his Daddy, you can kiss that tax deduction good bye! Best of luck from all of us at Ten House…maybe now I can teach you a few things…Johnny ;)
From all of the Members, Past & Present, we Love, Respect, Thank You, & Wish You all the best.