In June 1974, Joe Thompson (left) and James Gregory (right) attended the first meeting to put together a makeshift Putnam County rescue service. Both later became decades-long members of the county’s official emergency response team. IAN TOCHER/Staff
When Joe Thompson and James Gregory agreed to meet at Eatonton City Hall in June 1974, they had no idea of what they were getting into.
They also had no uniforms, no equipment, and no guarantee of income. What they did have, however, was a shared belief that Putnam County needed something it didn’t yet have: an organized rescue service to help out when lives were on the line.
