Also See: Photo Slide Show: A Weekend Of Reflection in New York
HEATHER CASPI
Firehouse.com News
Photo By Pete Matthews
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NEW YORK -- Firefighters from around the country and beyond came to New York City this weekend to pay their respects at individual FDNY funeral and memorial services, despite the postponement of the giant service that was planned for Sunday. There were eleven services on Saturday in the city and elsewhere in the state.
There was a massive firefighter turnout for the service of Lt. Robert Nagel of Engine 58, at St. Monica's Catholic Church on East 79th Street. As the procession came down the street, the entire length of the city block was lined with firefighters packed shoulder to shoulder, in rows sometimes five to seven people deep.
As the service got underway, the sidewalk was packed with pedestrians stopping to watch and to explain what was happening to their children. Dozens more watched from their apartment balconies and windows high above the church.
Some of those firefighters who traveled the farthest came from Dublin, Ireland. Although their official trip as part of a larger ground was cancelled, three decided to come on their own.
Patrick McNally, Seamus O'Connor and Jim McDonald delivered a letter of condolence from the mayor of Dublin, signed by all the firefighters in the city. McNally said the firefighters have many friends in FDNY, and have a tradition with them of swapping visits to each others' countries every St. Patrick's Day.
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Other firefighters came in great force from cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, Vancouver, Toledo, Dayton, Houston, Whistler, Portland, Santa Fe, Dallas, Cambridge Mass., San Jose, Modesto, and Fremont CA, Norfolk VA, Jacksonville FL, Jersey City, Gary IN, Boston, Miami-Dade and Broward County FL.
"It's just an honor to be here," said Engineer Dennis Smith of the Gary, Ind. Fire Department, which had 15 members present. "Most of what I've gotten out of it is the families hugging you and saying thank you for coming. It means a lot to them." Smith said his group attended several services Friday and planned to do the same Saturday.
Chief Paul Milositz of the Cripple Creek Fire Department in Colorado said his group was disappointed at the postponement of the large service, but had non-refundable tickets to New York and wanted to show their support just the same. The chief said he was impressed with the number of firefighters that still came out, and said he has been running into firefighters from all over the country, such as Mississippi and Washington state.
Some firefighters were too emotional to talk.
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Firefighter Stan Wong of San Jose said his group had just arrived and hoped to have the opportunity to talk to some of the FDNY firefighters and visit ground zero.
Firefighters from Rochester, NY said the FDNY people have been going out of their way to express their thanks, repeatedly. Chief John Caufield said he was glad to see such a full turn out for the service, but noted that many of the services held in Long Island have been hard pressed. "You think of Worcester, everybody was blown away and it was six people. When you talk about over three hundred… it's mind boggling," he said.
Caufiled said one positive thing in the aftermath of the tragedy is the way it has "recharged some batteries," because when you're not a rookie anymore, firefighters sometimes forget how excited and proud they are to be a part of the fire service, the chief explained.
Lt. Allyn Borrino said they were present because the tragedy hit all firefighters no matter what departments they were from."You feel like you were hurt yourself," he said. "It's an empty shell feeling. It's very strange."
Borrino equated seeing the 'new' New York to really seeing the Grand Canyon, instead of just hearing about it. "It's like hearing the Grand Canyon is big, but you have to see it."
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In addition to attending the services, the Rochester group came to deliver a donation to Ladder 25, where they have acquaintances and where 20 children were left fatherless, said firefighter Bob Hall. They have raised $15,000 so far for Ladder 25 through t-shirt sales.
A firefighter/EMT from Miami, who identified herself as Jennifer, said the hardest part of attending the service was listening to Amazing Grace on the bagpipes. "There's a great feeling of sadness, but it's nice because the FDNY guys are real happy to see us here," she said. "They don't have any words for it."
"Their faces tell the story. It was well worth it," said firefighter/paramedic Alex Acosta, of Miami.
"It's tough. They buried my best friend," said FDNY's Ray Pfeifer at Engine 40 Ladder 35 Saturday morning. "They have firefighters from all over the world helping me out. We need help, help to bury our dead. They've been doing a great job and I don't know how to help them enough. We're burnt out but we're still going."
After 67 days since the attack, Pfeifer said the department still has 61 firefighters left to bury, although many of the bodies are still missing. He said his station has found only one out of their eleven fallen firefighters.
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Firefighters filling in at Engine 40 from the Bronx, expressed how much appreciate the support from all around the country, but said life is still not getting any easier. "Moral is pretty low. It's still sinking in that it happened. It's not ever gonna be the same," said firefighter Dave Bell.
Captain Steven Gerbert of the Jacksonville, Florida Fire Department said 21 of their firefighters had planed to attend the large memorial service and 14 came to the city despite the postponment. "We had just last week members of 157 Truck (located in Queens, NY) visiting us. They watched the plane crash (in Rockaway, Queens) and said that's our neighborhood."
"We rushed them to the airport so they could get back," Gerbert said. "Now we are here to show them support. We are going to supper there tomorrow."
Lon Slepicka, Peter Matthews and Dave J. Iannone contributed to this report
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