CHICOPEE - Gregory Pray has been a firefighter at Station 1 in Chicopee for the last three years. Pray left ten months ago for his deployment where he spent 7 months in Afghanistan. He served as a combat medic for the Navy Infantry in Helman Province.

On Tuesday, Pray was back at work for his first 24-hour shift since coming home from Afghanistan.

"It's really great to be home, get a real shower and see a little bit of snow, instead of sand," said Pray.

Just a day before his 24-hour shift, the fire station welcomed Pray back to work. Lieutenant Daniel Sousa has been with the department for 14 years and has seen quite a few members of his staff leave for Afghanistan and return. They have a flag with stars at the fire station to represent each member that goes to Afghanistan.

"On Monday, we took that flag down and we have no stars on the flag because we have no guys overseas," said Sousa.

Lieutenant Sousa says that Pray's service is something a lot of them can relate to.

"I was also a Marine," added Sousa. "I did four years when I was young so we all have that camaraderie of veterans."

Pray is excited to be back home and serving for the fire department. He says he uses skills he learned in the military and puts those into action at the fire station in Chicopee.

"Being able to learn these skills and have both jobs is really special to me," Pray said. "I love what I do. I love taking care of people. It gives me every chance in the world to do that."