[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 41 (Monday, October 15, 2001)]
[Pages 1430-1432]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Emmitsburg, 
Maryland

October 7, 2001

    Thank you very much. Joe, thank you for those kind words, and thank 
you for your outstanding service in a difficult time for our great land.
    I want to thank Hal Bruno and the directors of the National Fallen 
Firefighters Foundation for the outstanding leadership they have shown 
in recognizing America's heroes.
    I want to say thanks to the members of the Maryland delegation who 
are here, Senator Sarbanes, Senator Mikulski, Congressman Hoyer, and 
Congressman Bartlett. I want to thank you all for being here. I want to 
thank the local officials who are here. I want to thank the firefighters 
from all around America who have come to comfort the families of the 
fallen.
    I want to say hello to the moms and dads and husbands and wives and 
sons and daughters of the fallen. Laura and I are honored to be here 
with you today as we remember the lives and sacrifices of your brave 
relatives.
    Two years ago this weekend, I attended a memorial ceremony in New 
York City honoring fallen firefighters, and standing nearby were Chief 
Peter Ganci and many others who are now gone. None of us on that day 
could have imagined what was to come, the scale

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of the emergency, the enormity of the danger, the magnitude of the evil. 
Yet, each one of those firefighters felt a strong calling and knew its 
risks.
    On September 11th, that calling led them into burning towers on a 
mission of rescue. Within a single hour, more than 300 firefighters were 
lost. And our Nation still mourns. They did not live to know who had 
caused the destruction or why. They only knew their duty, and that was 
to go in, to follow the faintest cry, to search for the trapped and 
helpless, and to save those who could be saved.
    A few days ago, one New Yorker described firefighters as ``the kinds 
of guys you look up to.'' Every one of you here knew exactly what he 
meant. The courage and loss we saw in New York is found in every 
community that has laid a firefighter to rest. Hardly a week passes in 
America when a career or a volunteer firefighter does not fall in the 
line of duty.
    Firefighting is a hard and demanding job, and it may at any moment 
send a person to the high heat or thick smoke. It's been said that a 
firefighter's first act of bravery is taking the oath to serve. And all 
of them serve knowing that one day they may not come home.
    Today we honor 101 who did not come home. They were all people who 
accepted the dangers of firefighting and were last seen on duty. We add 
their names to this national monument. We do so with pride and with deep 
gratitude.
    The Nation pays respect to them for their service and their 
sacrifice. And we respect you, their families, for your sacrifice, for 
the heavy burden you carry to this day. The McCormicks of Arkansas, the 
Hendricks of Kentucky, the Pescatores of Pennsylvania each lost a son 
who was not yet 20 years old. The families of Bo Rathbun of Wyoming, Jim 
Reavis of Missouri, Fred Brain and Pete Scannell of New York, Kenneth 
Jesse of Pennsylvania lost loved ones who were willing to serve even in 
the latter years of life.
    Many were taken during the fullest days of life, that time when we 
are needed most by the people we love. Kimberly Smith of Texas was 
engaged to be married. Robert Crump of Colorado was home after honorable 
service in the Marine Corps. Marvin Bartholemew of Florida had paid his 
way through college and was working his way up the ranks of the 
department.
    Roger Bookout was 34 years old when he died, and he was a loving 
dad. He had a great outlook, and it was summed up on a sign he kept on 
his locker: ``Love your wife; love your life.'' All these firefighters 
loved life. And Scripture teaches, there is no greater love than to lay 
down one's life for another.
    Sometimes a person cannot know for sure what mark he or she has left 
on the world. That will never be said of the people we remember today or 
of their kind. They were strong and caring people, brave and upright. 
You could always count on them. You could always look up to them.
    This firefighters monument belongs to the Nation and represents a 
national loss. The firefighters belong to you, and I know that loss can 
never be recovered.
    A fireman's widow recently said that her husband was her hero, ``and 
there's nothing I wouldn't do to have my hero here.'' That same feeling 
is shared by many here today, and time won't ever take it away. But the 
years can bring comfort, and they can bring hope. You'll always know 
that your hero died in the service of others. You can give one another 
the strength to go on. You can find the comfort of God, who is with us 
especially in sorrow. And you can know today that your loved ones are 
not forgotten. They hold an honored, cherished place in the memories of 
their comrades and an honored place in the memory of our country.
    God bless you all.

Note: The President spoke at 9:48 a.m. at the memorial on the National 
Emergency Training Center campus. In his remarks, he referred to Joe M. 
Allbaugh, Director, Federal Emergency Management Agency; Hal Bruno, 
chairman, National Fallen Firefighters Foundation; and Peter Ganci, Jr., 
chief, Fire Department-City of New York, who was killed while responding 
to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

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