Brentwood City Commission Welcomes Newest Firefighters, Honors Sept. 11 Anniversary
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – During Monday’s Brentwood City Commission meeting, Commissioner Ken Travis kept looking toward the back of the room.
“Mr. Mayor, I feel very uncomfortable sitting up here with heroes back there,” he said. “I’d like to ask the first responders to come up here and stand behind us.”
A group of Brentwood firefighters attended the meeting to welcome their two newest members – Brian Aiello and Aaron Wallenburg. But the meeting also took place on Sept. 11, and most people in that room remembered the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed more than 340 firefighters in 2001.
Once the firefighters and police officers crowded behind the commissioners, Travis reads a few words from the 9/11 Memorial in New York City.
“We shall never forget, we shall keep this day, we shall keep this event and the tears in our minds, in our memories and in our hearts and take them as we carry on.”
The memory of those attacks, 22 years ago, remained vivid Monday evening, with all the commissioners commemorating the somber memorial during their public comments.
“I ask that today and every day, you continue to recognize and thank our first responders for the sacrifices they make every day,” Commissioner Susannah Macmillan said. “Tonight, two fighters took the oath of office. This is more than just a job for them – it’s a calling. Congrats, but more importantly thank you Brian Aiello and Aaron Wallenburg, and thank you Chief (Brian) Goss for continuing to find quality candidates with servant’s hearts for the Brentwood Fire and Rescue Department.”
Firefighter Brian Aiello
Aiello, a third-generation firefighter, spent nine years as a firefighter-paramedic with the Santa Clara Fire Department, and before that, he worked for nearly a decade as a fire sprinkler designer for two major companies. His responsibilities included NFPA-compliant sprinkler system design, plan review, cost estimating and training of other design staff. Aiello earned his paramedic license in 2013 and his Firefighter-II in 2017.
Firefighter Aaron Wallenburg
Wallenburg, a Southern California native, joined the U.S. Army in 2010, where he completed the National Security Agency Signals Intelligence Analysis program at Goodfellow Air Force Base. After his time in the Army, he went on to study biology and psychology in Sacramento, California. Wallenburg and his family moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, in 2017, where he finished his bachelor’s degree in psychology while working as an EMT at Metropolitan EMS (MEMS). In 2020, he joined the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services as a case manager in the Foster Care division, and he went on to earn a Master of Science in Psychology through Arizona State University. He would later spend two years with Columbia Fire and Rescue before joining Brentwood Fire and Rescue.
Anyone interested in becoming a Brentwood firefighter is encouraged to check the Human Resources website regularly for current job openings. A video highlighting the benefits City employees receive is available here.