Posted on 10/04/2001 1:22:45 PM PDT by AppyPappy
The bone-chilling wail of bagpipe playing "Amazing Grace" echoed through a Queens church yesterday as yet another fallen firefighter from the World Trade Center tragedy was memorialized in death.
It was yet another day — of many more to come — for Masses and memorial services for both heroic rescue workers and innocent civilians lost in the flames and collapsing towers.
At the memorial Mass for 49th Battalion Chief John Moran, his younger brother, Firefighter Michael Moran of Ladder 3, recalled how he spoke to his brother by cell phone after the second plane crashed into the Trade Center.
"I told him to be careful," the younger Moran told mourners, including his brother's wife, Kim, and two sons, Ryan, 7, and Dylan, 4. "I didn't see him there that day, but now I see him all the time."
The memorial Mass at St. Francis de Sales Church in Belle Harbor, Queens, was conducted by the fallen firefighter's uncle, Father Paul Moran, who called his 42-year-old nephew's last assignment a "mission of love, to save life, not destroy it."
Mayor Giuliani called for a standing ovation for the 20-year fire veteran, who held a law degree from Fordham University and was injured in the Father's Day explosion at an Astoria hardware store that killed three firefighters.
The mayor said while Moran's two young sons may not fully comprehend all that's happened, "The thing I want them to understand for their entire life is that their father is a great man."
I found these:
To: ELS
This was the best time I've ever had in the pouring rain! I was shouting so hard that I can hardly speak today. While the chants were great and certainly got people's attention, I personally loved it when we sang "America the Beautiful" and "God Bless America." I think that really stopped people in their tracks (and completely confounded the liberals).
32 Posted on 11/27/2000 15:45:04 PST by BCM
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After the Bush victory:
To: AndrewC
My fellow Freepers, who sustained me through all the insanity.
24 Posted on 11/27/2000 19:20:44 PST by BCM
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BTW I found this one as well:
To: bcjohnson
God bless you, you will be missed.
4 Posted on 01/03/2000 22:37:18 PST by BCM
John 15
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
Rest in Peace.
Thank's BCM
On the Saturday or Sunday following 911, my wife and I took the baby for his first walk beyond the house. Across the bay, we could still see the plume of smoke apparently heading toward Northern Queens from the spot where the Towers had stood. A tall, trim, fortyish man with salt-and-pepper hair approached us, on his way home. "I lost my best friend," he told us, muttering that he worked for the Fire Department, clutching momentarily at the work ID hanging from his belt loop, as his face tightened.
"I'm sorry," was all I knew to say, as he turned to go.
A man stands in a field of eternal bloom
Emerald grass and skies of blue
Where clouds drift and songbirds sing
He stands looking toward home
Waiting
For the day when they will come.
And stay.
Forever.
Thanks AP. This starts the tears flowing again.
And thanks for taking time to research so much. It helps us to know and love BC John Moran. Loved his protest sign too. This is one of the most touching threads - the true essence of our American heros. It tears apart one's heart.
To: Leto
She told me she takes her kids to vote with her, so they'll remember.My grandfather came to this country as an immigrant from Northern Ireland. Election day was one of the biggest days of the year for him. He never missed an opportunity to vote after he became a citizen. He was a janitor, but he would come home from work and put on a jacket and tie like he was going to church before he went to the polls. His right to vote was sacred to him.
He would take me with him and let me pull the levers. I think of him every time I hold my son in my arms and show him which lever to pull. Teach your children; take them to the polls.
22 Posted on 11/06/2000 07:32:59 PST by BCM
To: SunnyJim I know I should be thinking things like, "Good men died so I could do this," and "God bless the Founders," and in a way I guess I do, but really I'm thinking, Thank you God that I'm so lucky I can vote, isn't it wonderful this country has been voting for more than two centuries, aren't we the luckiest people on earth that we have this gift.I too had tears in my eyes while reading this.
29 Posted on 11/06/2000 07:41:57 PST by BCM
Wipe those tears now John, we will shed them in your stead. Many of us had a grandfather who worked as a janitor, mine did in a grade school. Having become a grandfather this summer, your reflections on how we were taught will stay with me in the message I carry to my grandchildren..
Dont mourn for them. The Chiefs have just passed over to work on things from that side.
They blessed us, and our Republic, with their HONOR ; They kept the faith that day, and showed the world why the forces of justice will prevail over these evil hyenas, these cowardly b*stard jackals we have come to call 'terrorists'.
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