Bruce Springsteen’s Son Becomes Firefighter, Does His Family Proud

Bruce Springsteen has long been a champion of working-class heroes in his music, and now his son has actually become one. Twenty-year-old Sam Springsteen – the youngest son of Bruce and Patti Scialfa – just graduated from Monmouth County Fire Academy and will join the fire department in his hometown of Colts Neck, New Jersey, according to the Asbury Park Press.

Proud mama Scialfa posted a photo on Instagram of her son in full firefighter regalia with the caption, "My youngest son, Sam, graduated from Monmouth County Fire Academy tonight. #Proud #OurFamilyHero."

Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, Bruce became a vocal supporter of firefighters and other service people who were killed during the World Trade Center rescue efforts. He headlined the benefit concert "America: A Tribute to Heroes" on September 21, 2001, to raise money for 9/11 victims and their families and emphasizing the work of New York City firefighters and police officers.

His critically acclaimed 2002 album, The Rising, was inspired by the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks and its title track tells the story of a firefighter climbing a World Trade Center tower after the attack:

"Can't see nothin' in front of me
Can't see nothin' coming up behind
I make my way through this darkness
I can't feel nothing but this chain that binds me
Lost track of how far I've gone
How far I've gone, how high I've climbed
On my back's a sixty pound stone
On my shoulder a half mile of line."

On another Rising track, "Into the Fire," Springsteen writes of someone "walking into the darkness of your smoky grave/Somewhere up the stairs into the fire…I need your kiss, but love and duty called you someplace higher…May your strength give us strength/May your faith give us faith."

Although Sam was just 7 years old at the time of the September 11 attacks, it appears that his father's high esteem for service people made a strong impression on him, and he's well on his way to doing his family and his country proud.