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Fallen firefighter memorial adds names from Sept. 11©Associated PressSeptember 22, 2002 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- In the shadow of Pikes Peak, the names of 343 firefighters who died at the World Trade Center have been added to the International Association of Fire Fighters Fallen Fire Fighters Memorial. On Saturday, families, friends and colleagues gathered to remember those victims and other firefighters who have died in the line of duty. "We must remember that they could be a serious bunch, but never took themselves too seriously. How easily they would laugh with one another in what we call firehouse humor, yet never forgetting how to weep when compassion was required," said Harold A. Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters. With a giant American flag draped over a pedestrian bridge above Pikes Peak Avenue, the ceremonies began with a procession of hundreds of firefighting vehicles. It started with a fly-over from an Air Force C-130 that helped fight Western wildfires this summer, and ended with four F-16s thundering past. Air Force Academy cadets ushered nearly 10,000 people to their seats. Hundreds of firefighters wore their finest uniforms, joined by a few wildland firefighters in their distinctive yellow shirts and green pants. The names of all the dead were read aloud and shown on large screens. The ceremony was to honor 499 professional firefighters and paramedics killed in the line of duty, including 425 reported deaths from June 2001 to June 2002, and 74 deaths between June 2000 and June 2001. Last year's ceremony was held only four days after Sept. 11, and many families were unable to attend due to travel restrictions after the terrorist attacks. This year, family members began arriving several days before the ceremony, placing flowers at the base of the memorial wall and the new adjacent wall with the names of the World Trade Center victims. Some used tracing paper to make copy the names of their loved ones off the wall. Sean Corrigan was among those who came early. His father, James Corrigan, was a retired fire captain who had become safety director for the World Trade Center. He had emptied out the daycare center and was trying to set up a communications center when the building collapsed. "It is overwhelming. It helps being around people who are going through the same thing you are. It helps you to move on," said Corrigan said. The memorial was started by IAFF Local 5 and adopted by the national association as their national memorial in 1976. It honors about 1,580 U.S. and Canadian firefighters and paramedics.
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