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Nearly 7,000 Pay Respects for 2001 Fallen at Candlelight Service
HEATHER L. CASPI
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Nearly 7,000 people gathered Saturday evening in remembrance of the 442 firefighters killed in the line of duty in 2001, at the National Fallen Firefighter Foundation's candlelight vigil. The service, a part of the NFFF's annual Memorial Weekend, took place at Catholic University's National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception which was packed to capacity, with additional people watching outside on a jumbo video monitor. The ceremony featured numerous speakers who encouraged the family members to remember their loved ones and to move forward. "The spirit of the 446 firefighters who died [in 2001 and honored for previous years] lives on, in you," said U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes of Maryland. "Your loss is the nation's loss." Speakers at the service included Father Thomas Mulcrone, chaplain of the Chicago Fire Department, Father John Delendick, chaplain of FDNY, and representatives of the NFFF, the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the Congressional Fire Services Institute.
The event also featured several musical selections by surviving family members, firefighters, the Children's Chorus of Maryland and the University of the District of Columbia Chorale. Many of those who came to the service were families of FDNY firefighters killed at the World Trade Center last September. Tom Smagala came from Fredericksburg, Virginia to honor his brother Stan Smagala who died in the first World Trade Center tower collapse. The firefighter was 36 years old and his wife Dena was pregnant with their first child, Alexa, who was born in January. Smagala said his other brother Jim, also an FDNY firefighter, was seriously injured but escaped the World Trade Center. Smagala said Jim was one of the firefighters who found the body of Mychal Judge, the beloved former FDNY chaplain, and carried his body out of the wreckage. "Emotionally he was a mess for a long time, but he seems like himself again," Smagala said.
Smagala said the most helpful part of the Memorial Weekend so far was not just being with other survivors of fallen firefighters, but spending time with his own family in a different setting. Another family member who came to the service was Deputy Chief Jerry Munson of the Croton Mount Hudson Fire Department in New York. His brother-in-law died in the line of duty in 1997 while serving the Brewster, NY Fire Department, and Munson has been coming to the Memorial Weekend ever since. He and his wife now act as volunteers, to help organize the event and help the new survivors deal with their grief. "After we came the first year I said to my wife, this is something I'd like to be involved with as long as I can get to Maryland," he said. Munson said he also feels strongly about supporting the survivors because in addition to his brother-in-law, he came very close to losing his son and several other family firefighters at an incident several years ago, while they served under him.
In addition to the candlelight service, Saturday saw the annual Red Helmet Motorcycle Ride, estimated at nearly two thousand riders who took to the streets to show their support for the firefighters and their families. This was the largest turnout in the Ride's four year history. "I think you're just going to see it growing and growing," said motorcyclist Dave Cohen, a volunteer firefighter with the Wheaton, MD Rescue Squad and member of the Secret Service. Cohen said many of the participants were firefighters, or family members and friends of firefighters. However many others were unconnected people who simply wanted to show their support. Near the end of the Red Helmet ride's route, the NFFF and the Law Enforcement Memorial Fund held a ceremony to show firefighters' solidarity with law enforcement officers, who also lost many lives in the line of duty last Sept. 11. The idea originated with Steve Austin of the Delaware State Fire Police and executive director of the International Association of Arson Investigators.
"He called me and I said that's a great idea," said Ronald Siarnicki, executive director of the NFFF. Austin said the idea seemed very appropriate, especially because this year's memorial weekend is being held in Washington DC, near the Law Enforcement Memorial. One of those honor guards at the ceremony came from the Fraser Public Safety department out of Michigan, a combination firefighting/law enforcement agency. Detail Commander Mike Carnagie said they got involved because they lost a member of their department two years ago. The firefighter died during a rescue attempt at an arson fire. "It's been a good thing," Carnagie said of the Memorial Weekend activities. "It's nice to pay a tribute to the families." Sunday events will include the Procession of Honor and the National Memorial Service at the MCI Center, which will remember the 442 men and women from 34 states who died in the line of duty in 2001. This includes the 347 firefighters who died in the World Trade Center tragedy and four firefighters who died in previous years will also be honored.
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