STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 A solemn memorial tribute will be held on Staten Island Saturday to honor 176 FDNY members lost to post-9\/11 illnesses, adding their names to a plaque that will become part of the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Emmitsburg, Maryland.<\/p>\n
The Oct. 18 ceremony, which will take place at the College of Staten Island, Willowbrook, is expected to draw more than 2,000 attendees. It will be hosted by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation<\/a>, along with the FDNY. <\/p>\n The event will be attended by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Robert Tucker, New York City fire commissioner, and John M. Esposito, the FDNY chief of department.<\/p>\n Also making remarks will be Kristi Noem, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Donna Black, acting U.S. Fire administrator.<\/p>\n A \u2018home game\u2019<\/p>\n Instead of holding the ceremony in Emmitsburg during the Annual National Memorial Service in May, the foundation elected to honor New York City by memorializing its own on city soil. A plaque bearing the heroes\u2019 names will be added to the Maryland memorial\u2019s Wall of Honor next week, said Victor Stagnaro, CEO of the NFFF.<\/p>\n \u201cBringing this to New York … and having everyone from NFFF in New York is a great thing,\u2019’ said Esposito. \u201dIt\u2019s an honor that they\u2019re here to honor our great people and their families.”<\/p>\n Getting so many FDNY representatives and family members down to Emmitsburg would have been impossible, the chief said. \u201cMaking it a \u2018home game\u2019 to us is great, very appreciated.\u201d <\/p>\n The foundation was created by Congress in 1982 with a mission to honor firefighters, support their families and work with the nation\u2019s fire departments to prevent fire-related deaths. The Memorial Park in Maryland was built in 1981, and an eternal flame burns in recognition of the sacrifices made by firefighters. <\/p>\n The names of fallen firefighters from around the United States are added annually in May. <\/p>\n One of a kind<\/p>\n Saturday\u2019s event is one-of-a-kind, said Stagnaro, and it could not have been put together without the coordination of the FDNY and Thomas Richardson, retired FDNY chief of department. <\/p>\n The 176 names had previously been added to the FDNY memorial at the World Trade Center, but had not yet been added to the national memorial, Stagnaro said.<\/p>\n When the FDNY began to say the number of deaths due to 9\/11-related illnesses exceeded the 343 members lost in the World Trade Center collapse, representatives from the NFFF recognized a gap and took a trip to New York, he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cWe compared lists,\u2019’ he said. \u201dThey had honored more than we had, and we wanted to rectify that. We recognized that these 176 had not been honored at the national memorial, and we needed to fix that.\u201d<\/p>\n The ceremony will be unique, he said. <\/p>\n \u201dThese deaths are every much a 9\/11 death as those who made a sacrifice on 9\/11,\u2019’ Stagnaro said. \u201cI do think that a lot of people are not aware that firefighters are dying from these cancers. I think 9\/11 and post-9\/11 diseases are giving us a better view of the things that are taking the lives of firefighters.<\/p>\n Those lost to 9\/11-related illnesses will continue being added to the memorial every May, he said.<\/p>\n Esposito said the total number of FDNY members lost to post-9\/11 illnesses after working at Ground Zero in the months following the attack continues to grow. Add to that members who were retired that day but stepped up to aid in the rescue efforts, he noted. \u201cThat number is over 200,\u2019’ he said. \u201dAnd we lost police officers and other members throughout the city ….”<\/p>\n The 3 p.m. event will be attended by families of victims and FDNY members representing the companies of each. Those members will present each family with an American flag that has been flown over the U.S. Capitol and at the NFFF Memorial, Stagnaro said. <\/p>\n Esposito said it\u2019s important to remember and honor the lives of people who did so much in the days and weeks and months after 9\/11, \u201cand, in many cases, were not able to live out their full lives and paid the price.\u201d<\/p>\n Tragedy does not end<\/p>\n \u201cThe tragedy of 9\/11 has not, and does not, end,\u2019’ he said. \u201dIt continues, and as sad as it was that day, we get the reminder of it every day.” <\/p>\n The FDNY Ceremonial Unit and Honor Guard will participate in Saturday\u2019s event, as will the department\u2019s Pipes and Drums. There will be a Candlelight and Shine Your Light tribute, and the New York City skyline will be lit in red in remembrance, Stagnaro said. <\/p>\n One particular aspect of the memorial service seemed to tug on Stagnaro\u2019s heartstrings.<\/p>\n Luminary bags were decorated by Staten Island eighth-grade students from Egbert Intermediate School (I.S. 2), Midland Beach, under the guidance of art teacher Suzanne Berkovitz.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m humbled and moved by it,\u2019’ he said. \u201dI thought it was a tremendously beautiful tribute from these kids. I thought it was a wonderful way to recognize the sacrifice of these fallen heroes.”<\/p>\n Esposito said the FDNY will not forget those who continue to fall to post-9\/11 illnesses.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to help people who conducted the search and rescue in the days and weeks after, when they were not fully aware of the exposure they were getting,\u2019’ he said. \u201dIf we don\u2019t honor and care for the people who are sick from post-9-11 illnesses, what happens the next time?”<\/p>\n And if tragedy happens again? <\/p>\n \u201cI have no doubt that our people will respond and operate and save lives\u201a\u2019\u2019 he said. <\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 A solemn memorial tribute will be held on Staten Island Saturday to honor 176…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4583,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-4582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}