Retired Marine Gen. John Kelly — President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the Department of Homeland Security — is a Boston native, Iraq combat commander and Gold Star father who volunteered to meet with Hub cops, firefighters and medics in the aftermath of the 2013 marathon blasts and offer his counsel.

“He wanted to talk to them about what they experienced and give them his thoughts and his insight as a Marine in combat, having to deal with the horrificness of what happened at the marathon bombing,” said Tommy Lyons, a fellow Marine from Boston who’s known Kelly for about 15 years. “He reached out — it wasn’t people reaching out to him — because he cared about the men and women who are in public safety. That’s the kind of guy he is.”

So months after the Boylston Street attacks, Kelly, who grew up in Brighton and graduated from the University of Massachusetts Boston, spoke at a Dorchester union hall, urging the firefighters, EMTs and police officers who had endured the chaos not to suffer alone.

“The biggest message he said was, ‘Don’t be afraid to get help, don’t be afraid to talk to someone about what you just went through,’ as many veterans have done, having gone through a traumatic event or combat,” Lyons said. “His actions speak to how he cares for people who are in a position where they’re putting themselves in danger every day.”

Kelly has frequently returned to Massachusetts, speaking at Marine vets’ luncheons and addressing Gold Star families in May during the dedication of the Massachusetts Fallen Heroes Memorial.

Kelly’s son, Lt. Robert Michael Kelly, was killed in Afghanistan in 2010 after stepping on a landmine. The elder Kelly served two tours in Iraq.

Kelly’s blunt style also put him at odds with the Obama administration when he was in charge of Southern Command, overseeing U.S. strategic interests in Central and South America, The Washington Post reported.

In other appointments yesterday, Trump named Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad ambassador to China, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency and Linda McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, as the head of the Small Business Administration.

Meanwhile, Trump, referring to his deal to keep a Carrier plant in Indiana, tweeted last night, “If United Steelworkers 1999 was any good, they would have kept those jobs in Indiana. Spend more time working-less time talking. Reduce dues.” Trump yesterday was also named Time magazine’s Person of the Year.