[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 139 (Tuesday, October 16, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1893]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1893]]



                 IN HONOR OF THE NEW YORK CITY FIREMEN

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 16, 2001

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the New York City 
Firemen, and to submit for the record a brief article written by one of 
my constituents, Mr. Matthew T. Fitzsimmons. Mr. Fitzsimmons truly 
captures the selfless nature of the hundreds of firemen that have 
risked their lives since September 11th, and those that continue to put 
themselves in harm's way. It is my hope that this article inspires you 
to realize the true American spirit embodied by ``New York's Bravest.''

                     Climbing a Stairway to Heaven

                      (By Matthew T. Fitzsimmons)

       I have always been proud to be the son of a retired New 
     York City fireman (Marine Co. 9) and brother of a current New 
     York City fireman (Ladder Co. 77). I was born and raised in 
     the tradition and culture of the New York City Fire 
     Department. I am now a lawyer in Cleveland.
       Last Tuesday morning at the World Trade Center, New York 
     City firefighters demonstrated to the world, in the most 
     graphic manner imaginable, why they are called New York's 
     Bravest. As tens of thousands evacuated the Twin Towers in 
     mass hysteria, the firefighters, with complete and utter 
     disregard for their own safety, ran into and up the buildings 
     to rescue the injured and others in need of help. It was an 
     extraordinary act of bravery.
       Up thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy floors, and higher, 
     with full gear. A height at which you could almost reach out 
     and touch the face of God. Unbeknownst to them, they were 
     climbing a stairway to heaven.
       There have been many words used to describe last week's 
     attack on our country: horrific, horrendous, barbaric, 
     tragic, and surreal. For me, there was nothing more horrific, 
     horrendous, barbaric, tragic, surreal--and sickening--than 
     Tuesday's TV graphic that approximately three hundred New 
     York City firefighters were missing, and presumed dead. It is 
     a number that is beyond comprehension--beyond comprehension. 
     It is numbing. Three hundred firefighters--about fifty 
     companies--are significantly more than are on duty in the 
     entire City of Cleveland on any given day.
       My thoughts this past week have not been on the faraway 
     lands of Afghanistan, Pakistan, or the Middle East, but on 
     the neighborhoods of Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the 
     closer in suburbs of Long Island, where families of many 
     firefighters live. The sense of loss and grief in those 
     neighborhoods must be unbearable and unspeakable. I am very 
     sorry for their loss, and mourn with them. To paraphrase Will 
     Rogers' eulogy of President Woodrow Wilson, last Tuesday the 
     world lost three hundred of its greatest friends. Tellingly, 
     it now appears that about ten percent of those who died at 
     the World Trade Center died trying to rescue others.
       Firefighters in all cities share many admirable qualities. 
     They are, for the most part, good family men and women. They 
     love kids, and are good with, and make time for, them. They 
     make great Little League coaches, peewee football coaches, 
     and CYO basketball coaches--much more so than doctors, 
     lawyers, investment bankers, and the dotcom crowd. Because 
     they face death with the ring of every alarm bell, they 
     appreciate how valuable and precious life is--each life. 
     Above all else, they are extraordinarily brave.
       When my father died in 1996, a reporter from one of the New 
     York newspapers asked if he could deliver the eulogy at his 
     funeral Mass. In the early 1970's, this reporter had 
     witnessed my father, then the pilot of the Firefighter (the 
     world's largest and most powerful fireboat), make a rescue in 
     New York Harbor after a freighter and a container cargo ship 
     collided near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. Scores of people 
     were incinerated in the collision. My father had maneuvered 
     the Firefighter between the two burning ships and rescued 
     about twenty-five crewmen, who were trapped and jumping 
     overboard. The heat was so intense that it melted the paint 
     off the Firefighter's decks. The reporter, a safe distance 
     away on a tugboat, thought the Firefighter was going to catch 
     on fire, explode, and sink. The reporter recounted this 
     rescue in the eulogy, and concluded by saying: ``Your father 
     was the brav-est man I ever knew.'' My brothers and sisters 
     and I were very proud to hear this tribute to our father.
       In the upcoming days and weeks, there will be funeral 
     Masses and services for all of these fallen heroes. I hope 
     that at these Masses and services someone will tell the 
     children of each one of these deceased firefighters that 
     their father or mother ``was the bravest person I ever 
     knew.''
       Although America can be, at times, a country with a short 
     memory, I am sure that America--indeed the entire world--will 
     never, ever forget the bravery which the men and women of the 
     New York City Fire Department displayed last Tuesday. I am 
     confident that when those firefighters reached the top of 
     that stairway to heaven, Our Lord and St. Peter were likewise 
     in awe of their bravery.

     

                          ____________________