FDNY Annual Memorial Service

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The 91st Annual Memorial Service for deceased members of The Fire Department of New York will be held at the Firemen’s Monument, 100th Street and Riverside Drive, Manhattan, on Wednesday, October 8, 2003, at 11a.m. Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta and Chief of Department Frank Cruthers extend to every member of the Department and FireResearch a sincere invitation to participate in these Memorial Services. It is a long-standing tradition that we honor the memory of our deceased members who have made the supreme sacrifice.

[FireResearch]

I think it is already clear from your post that this service is for FDNY members only, but I just want to be sure. Is the memorial service closed to the public? I am not a firefighter but I deeply respect and admire what you do. I was not able to make it down to NY for the recent 9/11 commemorations, but I would try to go to this if non-firefighter members of the public were permitted to go.

Thanks for your answer (whatever it may be)...

[E40FDNYL35]

No it's not closed...It's outdoors. Open to all please re-read my post...

[E40FDNYL35]

About the statue

Dedicated to the “soldiers in a war that never ends,” the Firemen’s Memorial is one of the most spectacular monuments in Riverside Park. Mounting the sweep of steps from Riverside Drive, you first see a huge, gleaming relief with three galloping horses hauling a fire engine while two men at the left struggle to shift debris. In the background, a crowd of spectators is sketched in low relief.

The urgent call, the adrenalin rush, the fight to save lives and property: those are the rewarding and exciting parts of the fireman’s job, and it’s fitting that they are the dominant feature of this monument. But firefighting is also perilous, as shown in the marble groups at either side of the relief. On the left a woman holds the limp body of her husband, killed in the line of duty. The pose of these two figures is reminiscent of a pieta, a common subject in medieval and Renaissance art in which a grieving Madonna supports the body of Christ. (Michelangelo’s Pieta is the most famous.) The resemblance to the pieta immediately brings in two ideas: that the firefighter who dies in the line of duty is making the ultimate sacrifice for others, and that those who survive feel both devastating grief and pride for his courage.

In the group at the right, a young child looks up questioningly at the woman whose arm encircles him. From her resemblance to the woman in the pair of figures on the left, and from the fact that she holds a fireman’s helmet on her lap and sits next to a fire hydrant, we know this must be the fireman’s widow about to explain why the child’s father won’t ever be coming home. I find this pair more wrenching than the woman holding her husband’s dead body, because the child leans in so trustingly, and woman will soon have to emerge from the numbness of shock to explain what happened.

The monument’s peaceful site, slightly away from the traffic of Riverside Drive and with a splendid view west over the Hudson River, encourages visitors to pause and ponder the bravery of firefighters in the face of constant, life-threatening danger. Why is the message still so easy to read after nearly a hundred years? The drama and urgency in the fire engine’s movement are obvious because the artist has emphasized the rush of the horses, rather than the details of the fire engine (which must have been notably old-fashioned within a decade or two). The pairs of figures at either end are classically draped and timeless—painstakingly reproduced costumes of ca. 1910 would be a distraction.

In 1908, the Right Reverend Henry C. Potter proposed a monument to commemorate firemen who died in the line of duty. The memorial committee, headed by Bishop Potter and later by Isidor Straus, raised $50,500 by popular subscription and another $40,000 in public funds for this memorial. Piccirilli and Magonigle, who collaborated as sculptor and architect, also executed the Maine Monument on the northwest side of Columbus Circle--another grand, dramatic tribute to men who died in the line of duty.

[E40FDNYL35]

[E40FDNYL35]

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UK Brothers

I and 4 of my brothers from the UK will stand shoulder to shoulder with you on that day and feel honoured and proud to be there and pay our respect to the "Bravest"

Marts

[FireResearch]

Thanks for the "personal" invite. I will do my best to attend and pay my respects.

[E40FDNYL35]

For the first time since Sept. 11, 2001, thousands of firefighters lined Riverside Park yesterday to honor their fallen brothers at the annual FDNY Memorial Day ceremony. The ceremony, held every October, was canceled after the World Trade Center attacks.
Last year, it was held at Madison Square Garden and attended by about 50,000 people. This year an estimated 6,500 firefighters showed up to pay respect to all 1,126 (LOD) firefighters killed either on- or off-duty in the department's 138-year history. The Upper West Side park is home to the Fireman's Monument, which was built in 1913. "It's good to be back here," said Firefighter Jack Becht of Ladder 15 in lower Manhattan, which lost eight men on 9/11. Mayor Bloomberg (who closed 6 firehouses) gave a short speech touting a new training facility on Randalls Island.(he had nothing to do with) Then Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta drew loud applause after telling the crowd he hoped one day there would be a similar statue at Ground Zero naming the 343 firefighters killed on 9/11. Scoppetta quoted Winston Churchill: "Never was so much owed by so many to so few." There was also a special tribute for six firefighters and two EMS workers who died last year, including two members of Ladder 135 in Queens who both died of cancer within a week of each other. Firefighter Vanclive "Van" Johnson, 42, died of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma on Aug. 22. His wife gave birth to their son last week. "He found out she was pregnant right after he was diagnosed," said Firefighter Dom Zito, who worked with Johnson at Ladder 135. "It's been really tough." Just days later, Firefighter Russell Brinkworth, 46, lost his battle with throat cancer.

[E40FDNYL35]

Before a somber audience, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta repeated his call yesterday for special recognition for firefighters at the planned Ground Zero memorial.
Scoppetta spoke in front of a sea of blue uniformed firefighters gathered for the annual memorial service at the Firemen's Monument on Riverside Drive at W. 100th St.

A light breeze played across the nearly 7,000 firefighters and dignitaries who gathered to pay tribute to the 1,126 active FDNY members who died in the past 140 years.

"On Sept. 11 this year, I came to lay a wreath for the 343 firefighters and EMTs we lost at the World Trade Center," said Scoppetta. "And I hope that any future memorial at the World Trade Center site will appropriately reflect the sacrifice these men made and specifically identify their role."

Scoppetta's statement drew long applause.

The request is a touchy issue for many survivors of the civilian victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack that destroyed the twin towers. They fear special recognition for emergency workers might create a hierarchy of those killed during the attack.Scoppetta initially made a request for a special Sept. 11 memorial to police officers and firefighters in April.
Yesterday's ceremony marked the return of the annual event to the upper West Side site after a two-year hiatus caused by the attacks.
A bell was tolled eight times for the FDNY members who died between July 14, 2002, and August 2003: Firefighters Gary Celentani, Robert Dillon, Ryan Duryee, Cornelius Sheehan, Vanclive Johnson, Russell Brinkworth, Emergency Medical Service technician Peter Zaborowski and EMS Lt. Anthony Vassallo.

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A True Honour to be there...........

Marts