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President Bush will be in Emmitsburg on Sunday to pay tribute to 87 firefighters killed in the line of duty last year and four who had not previously been honored, according to White House Spokesman Alex Conant.After spending the weekend at Camp David, the president will fly in to participate in the 26th annual National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service. The public is invited to attend the 10 a.m. service at 16825 S. Seton Ave.
"He'll make remarks, greet families, and lay a wreath to commemorate those killed in the line of duty," Conant said.
Hal Bruno, chairman of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, said it's a great honor that the president is coming.
"No other president has ever come to us in 26 years," Bruno said.
Bush also attended the ceremony in 2001 -- less than a month after Sept. 11.
"Sometimes a person cannot know for sure what mark he or she has left on the world," Bush said at the 2001 ceremony. "That will never be said of the people we remember today."
The Westboro Baptist Church, an anti-gay activist group, is planning to picket the monument from 8:45 a.m. until the ceremony begins.
An area across the street from the foundation's Memorial Park has been designated for the group, Bruno said.
"We've been warned," Bruno said. "Even though the things they shout and the signs they carry are repugnant, cruel and hurtful to the families, they have a right under the law to peaceful protest."
Kim Bruce, spokeswoman for the U.S. Secret Service, would not comment on whether the Secret Service would take added security measures because of the planned picketing.
"We're certainly not there to keep people from attending and exercising their right to free speech," Bruce said.
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