October 12, 2002 Firefighter Memorial Service


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We attended the Firefighters Memorial Day service on Saturday, October 12, 2002, held at Madison Square Garden. Last year’s service, which was due to be held in October at the Firemen's Memorial at Riverside Drive and 100th Street, was cancelled because of 9/11.

Tens of thousands of white-gloved firefighters from around the country and the world attended to honor their fallen brothers. The weather was fitting for the occasion -- weeping gray skies and a steady rain falling throughout the morning.

The ceremony began with an estimated 55,000 firefighters marching up Eighth Avenue from 14th to 33rd Streets in a mile-long procession behind the funereal skirls of bagpipes and rolling drums. The procession included a color guard carrying 356 American flags, representing the number of firefighters killed in the line of duty since the last service was held in October, 2000.

The ceremony was very solemn and very moving. There were prayers, hymns, anthems and remarks by public officials, union leaders and other dignitaries. Portraits of each firefighter appeared on giant screens, with name, rank and company in black letters on a gray rectangle. It took 41 minutes to read all 356 names. It seemed to go on forever -- name after name, after name, after name.

Some firefighters’ personal family photos were displayed instead of their official photographs. One of these photos was of a firefighter and his young children. The family was sitting near us and when the young daughter saw the photo of her dad and herself, she pointed to the screen and exclaimed “that’s me, that’s me!” Other than that heartbreaking outcry, the only sounds during this sad, numbing recitation were the sobs from the family members.

When the last name was read, there began polite applause, which soon gave way to a spontaneous, thunderous standing ovation, accompanied by shouts and whistles. We had brought along a large photo of Paul, which John held high during the entire ovation.

Despite three times attempts to quiet the crowd, the ovation went on for seven minutes. Each attempt only made the ovation louder and more boisterous -- the families and firefighters standing together, roaring and clapping, tears running down the faces of many.

We wanted our message to our fathers, sons, brothers, husbands to reach the Heavens -- to tell them “We are so very proud of you.” “We miss you, we love you, we will NEVER forget you.”

Paul's medals were presented to the family by our firefighter escort from E54/L4/B9, Andrew Sforza.
Paul was Andy's "probie" when he was with Engine 54 on his first rotation when he graduated from the Fire Academy.