[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 49 (Monday, December 13, 1999)]
[Pages 2555-2556]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at a Memorial Service for Firefighters in Worcester

December 9, 1999

    Thank you. First, to the wonderful families of our six fallen 
heroes, who the Vice President and I had a chance to visit with before 
the beginning of this service. To their colleagues in the fire 
department, their friends in this wonderful community. To the thousands 
of men and women in uniform who have come here to join the Mayor, the 
Governor, the Senators, the Members of Congress, the Bishop and members 
of the clergy; President Whitehead and members of the firefighters; 
especially to Chief Budd and Frank Raffa and all the grieving members of 
this fire department, too.
    I hope you can all sense how clearly we know, in spite of our talks, 
that words have a poor power to alleviate the pain you feel now. But as 
you look around this vast hall and know that there are thousands and 
thousands more standing outside and other

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places, we hope that by our collective presence we will speak louder 
than words in saying that your tragedy is ours, your men are ours, our 
whole country honors them and you. We grieve with you, and we will stay 
with you.
    More than two and a half centuries ago, Benjamin Franklin wrote an 
essay entitled, ``Brave Men at Fires.'' He might have written it last 
week. This is what he said: ``Neither cold nor darkness will deter good 
people from hastening to the dreadful place to quench the flame. They do 
it not for the sake of reward or fame, but they have a reward in 
themselves, and they love one another.''
    Today we honor six brave men who found a reward in firefighting, who 
loved one another, six men who, in turn, richly rewarded this community. 
So they hastened to the dreadful place to save others. For them, there 
was no other way.
    In the book of Isaiah, God asks, ``Whom shall I send, and who will 
go for us?'' And Isaiah says, ``Here am I. Send me.''
    When the question again rang from the smoking skies last week, Paul 
Brotherton, Timothy Jackson, Jeremiah Lucey, Jay Lyons, Joseph McGuirk, 
and Thomas Spencer also answered with a single voice: Here am I. Send 
me.
    They were firefighters to the core, heroes already, as we have 
heard, to their friends and loved ones, not to mention the people they 
saved through the years. For all six, being a firefighter was more than 
a job; it was in their blood. So when they went into that building that 
night, they were following their dream to serve, to save lives, and to 
stick together.
    Like their fellow firefighters everywhere, they embodied the best of 
our Nation of commitment and community, of teamwork and trust, values at 
the core of our character; values reflected in the daily service not 
only of those we lost but in this awesome parade of men and women who 
have come from all over our country and from some countries beyond our 
borders to honor their comrades and console their families.
    Too often, we take them for granted, our firefighters. In the days 
ahead, I hope every American will find an occasion to thank those in 
their communities who stand ready every day to put their lives on the 
line when the alarm bell rings.
    In the Book of Kings, we find the wonderful story of the prophet 
Elijah, who climbs a mountain to seek the voice of God. A wind shatters 
rocks in pieces, but the Bible says, the Lord is not in the wind. Then, 
there's an earthquake and then a fire, but God is not in the earthquake 
or in the fire. But then, the Scripture says, ``after the fire, a still, 
small voice.'' It is that still, small voice that spoke to those six 
good men, that moved their souls to service and sacrifice. The still, 
small voice that endures through the ages, that inspires the songs and 
words we have all shared today, that must now carry this group of 
grieving families through their grief to going on.
    Today we thank God for the lives our fallen firefighters lived. We 
hope their families can remember the good and happy times and bring some 
smiles through their tears. We commend their souls to God's eternal 
loving care, and we pray that His still, small voice will bring strength 
and healing to these families and to this wonderful community who loved 
them so much.

Note: The President spoke at 12:50 p.m. at Worcester's Centrum Centre. 
In his remarks, he referred to Mayor Raymond V. Mariano of Worcester; 
Gov. Argeo Paul Cellucci of Massachusetts; Bishop of Worcester Daniel P. 
Reilly; Dennis L. Budd, chief, Worcester Fire Department; Frank Raffa, 
president, Worcester Fire Fighters Local 1009; and Alfred K. Whitehead, 
general president, International Association of Fire Fighters.