[Tenega]

Ladder 3 lost fully half of its entire complement Sep 11. Twelve men died. I walk by their firehouse on 13th St every day. Sad. The candles are still burning on the sidewalk. The apartment building/NYU dorm across the street still has banners of condolence in all the windows.

[lavrenti]

We walked by that firehouse, too. My wife cried.

Say a prayer for Manny at Ladder Five. Nice kid. He used to tease my daughter when we walked by. Memorial service is later this week.

BCM and I had a wonderful exchange in a thread my first month posting on FR. He made me feel at home.

[freefdny]

Ladder 3 also happens to be where John's brother Mike works, who by the way gave one of the most inspirational and moving speeches I have ever heard, at the memorial;including a moment where a baby cried loud and long and Mike stopped his speech and said "I know how you feel kid". John of course would probably post a message telling us that America's got work to do. And that we should take all this sadness and turn it into something positive,like a resolute quest for justice. That's the kind of guy he was. God Bless FreeRepublic