Sheila Clark looks at a bronze statue of a firefighter as it sits in its temporary position outside of a New York City hotel, Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2001. Originally commissioned by the state of Missouri as a memorial to their fallen firefighters, the statue has become an instant shrine to the dead in the World Trade Center disaster. The statue was en route to Missouri, but was being donated to New York in the wake of the terorist attack.

A rescue worker sleeps on a pew in St. Paul's Episcopal Chapel near ground zero in New York.

Steve Schlopak, steward of Chumley's, a fireman's bar in Manhattan's west village, lost many of his customers to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

A couple more pictures.

A 12-story mural titled '9-11' by artist Mike McNeilly, featuring images of a New York firefighter amid images of the Sept. 11 terrorist destruction of the World Trade Center, the American flag and the Statue of Liberty, adorns the side of a building Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2001, in the Westwood district of Los Angeles. Firefighters across the country have reported a huge surge of appreciation since the attacks that killed some 300 New York police officers and firefighters and thousands of other victims.

Erick Robertson, of Oakhurst, Calif., pets Porkchop, a one-year-old search and rescue dog as he receives a dehydration intravenous treatment, Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2001, at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals mobile clinic just outside ground zero in New York. Robertson and Porkchop have been working at the World Trade Center attack site since Sunday.

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Wonderful article, Utah Girl!

I would urge everyone to take the time to read the entire thing rather than just the excerpts you are allowed to post here ..... it's very touching and inspiring.

Here is another excerpt from the article. It is really a good one.

Last Saturday night four firefighters walked into the White Horse Tavern, an old Greenwich Village bar. The firefighters wore turnout coats smeared with grime, and swoop-brimmed helmets and ash-caked boots. As they moved past the button-down brokers and bearded intellectuals sitting at tables on the sidewalk, a wave of cheers began. By the time they reached the bar, the crowd was screaming, pounding on the scarred wooden tables, chanting, "USA! USA!" A waitress danced with them, and asked for pictures. "Kiss me," one firefighter said.

fyi

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UG, You again bring tears to my eyes.

Thanks!

I'm gratified to see this. Firemen were popular hero figures when I was a small child but have been taken for granted for a long, long time.

You're welcome. I thought I was finished with tears, but after reading this article last night, well, I'm not finished crying yet.

Oneida, thanks for the ping. UG, this is an awesome post!

BTTT

Ping to read a wonderful article about the firemen rescuers in NYC.

Ping to read a wonderful article about the firemen rescuers in NYC.

Ping to read a wonderful article about the firemen rescuers in NYC.

Ping to read a wonderful article about the firemen rescuers in NYC.

Wow. I was doing just fine until I read this part:

For 15 years Paula Spector walked by the Houston Street firehouse to and from work, and often she would nod to John Santore, a handsome firefighter with a handlebar mustache, who lounged in the garage. It was sort of a thing they had. She liked to think it was an unspoken, winking kind of flirtation. The other day she was walking by the firehouse, and there he was again -- on a poster. He was among those lost.

Excuse me while I grab a tissue.

Thank you so much for this article.

One of the firemen told us the ground where it is smoldering still is so hot they cannot stand on it too long at one time or their shoes melt . There are so many things that they are having to see and do and they sure are heroes.
Thank you again for the article my friend.