As Firehouse Sees It: “We Didn’t Need an Invitation The First Time”

Sept. 13, 2011

THOSE WORDS WERE SPOKEN BY CAPTAIN AL HAGAN, the president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, the union that represents 2,450 lieutenants, captains, battalion chiefs, deputy chiefs, medical officers and supervising fire marshals in the FDNY. He was recalling to Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center. He continued, “And we won’t need an invitation the second time they attack.”

Captain Hagan was speaking in regard to the exclusion of firefighters, police officers, EMS personnel and other groups of people who responded on 9/11 to help in a variety of ways at the 10th anniversary ceremonies at the World Trade Center site. Many firefighters were very upset at the decision. One firefighter from out of state who spent time working at the site wanted me to call the mayor of New York City to register a protest. Because of the ongoing construction at the site, the area needed for the large gathering of families of those that were killed could not accommodate the addition of thousands of emergency responders.

Firefighters, being quite innovative and clever, had another idea. For the past 10 years, led by the chiefs, officers and firefighters of the six companies assigned to the FDNY’s 18th Battalion (Engine 45, Ladder 58, Engine 88, Ladder 38, Engine 48 and Ladder 56), thousands of FDNY firefighters, officers and chiefs have met at the Firemen’s Memorial located in Riverside Park at West 100th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. This monument is the site of the annual department memorial service, Oct. 12 of each year. This date signifies the day in 1966 when 12 FDNY firefighters were killed in a basement fire on 23rd Street in Manhattan.

On Sept. 11, 2011, the 18th Battalion commander, Chief John J. Salka Jr., was the master of ceremonies for this year’s 10th anniversary of 9/11. A moment of silence was held when the first planes hit and when the buildings fell. Thousands of firefighters, officers, chiefs and staff chiefs, along with families of firefighters killed in the line of duty, assembled at the monument. Officers from the firefighters and officers unions were in attendance. Several blocks were closed in every direction around the site. Thousands of firefighters from around the country, including at least 300 from California, also were in attendance. They were joined by hundreds of firefighters from around the world. Ceremonies at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, PA, were also held to commemorate the 10th anniversary of those incidents.

Members of the 18th Battalion read the names of the 343 killed at Box 8087, World Trade Center on 9/11/01. A wreath was laid at the monument. A band played and children sang. This year there was plenty of news coverage during the two hour ceremony. Low-key, respectful, no politics and right- to-the-point those who died in the line of duty were remembered like they should have. With honor and dignity, the firefighters of the 18th Battalion took care of their own.

The following message is sculpted into the back of the Firemen’s Memorial:

To the Men of the Fire Department

Of The City of New York

Who Died At The Call Of Duty

Soldiers In A War That Never Ends

This Memorial Is Dedicated

By The People Of A Grateful City

Dedicated September 5, 1913

At the same time, across the nation and around the world, emergency services personnel and civilians alike gathered at fire stations, parks and government facilities to pause for a few minutes to remember, dedicate a piece of steel or reflect on a day the world will never forget.

The FDNY recently unveiled a new monument in the headquarters lobby that lists the names of 55 members, including EMS personnel, who have died of illnesses linked to the World Trade Center attack and their work at the site in the months afterward. Right after 9/11, someone mentioned that because of the dangerous substances firefighters and others had to breathe while operating at the site, the death toll in coming years could far exceed those killed during the initial attacks. We hope that this never happens. Never forget.

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