The question of whether to distinguish between uniformed rescuers and civilians who died at the World Trade Center emerged yesterday as a central issue at a hearing on how to create a Ground Zero memorial.
About 500 people, including many victims' relatives, attended the hearing held by the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. on proposed guidelines for a memorial design competition.
Several people asked that firefighters and police get a separate memorial, or at least have their affiliation and rank listed where their names appear in the larger memorial.
The LMDC's guidelines, released this month, stressed the importance of treating all victims equally, "without establishing hierarchies."
Retired firefighter John Finucane - who represented the Emerald Society, an FDNY fraternal group - proposed a separate memorial showing the name, badge number and company of each fallen firefighter.
"Please, let's not forget our heroes," he said.
