Final Memorial Service for Firefighters Lost in WTC Attack

The last of the memorial services for each of the 343 NYC firefighters killed in the Massacre of September 11 was held — yesterday:

.... Along with the small clutch of family and the blocklong legions of uniformed men and women who saw Michael Ragusa memorialized yesterday were Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and his predecessor, Rudolph W. Giuliani, each of whom spoke to the crowd inside the church.

Mr. Bloomberg, speaking almost too softly for the lectern's microphone to pick up his words, said Firefighter Ragusa, like his comrades killed on Sept. 11, had made New York City a safer place. But he also urged mourners to move beyond grief.

"For the people of New York, this is a cathartic moment, a chance to honor the final member of a group of heroes whose actions gave our city the strength to rebuild after 9/11."

Mr. Giuliani also seemed to grasp an opportunity to heal the wounds suffered during an incomparably bitter chapter in New York City history that began on a similarly bright and deceptively peaceful September morning.

"They saved the spirit of America that day," Mr. Giuliani, speaking during a brief eulogy directly to Mr. Ragusa's family in the first rows, said about the firefighters and police officers who evacuated the twin towers after the attacks. "If they hadn't deliberately made the decision to put their lives at risk," Mr. Giuliani said, "then maybe the terrorists might have achieved their goal."

Toward the end of his remarks, Mr. Giuliani added: "If Michael were here today, he would tell you to live on, keep the family together, to make sure that these children grow up to have even better lives than we have, or that he had." ....

(Thanks, Susanna.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Tue. 09/09/03 08:38:13 AM
Categorized as Other.