Fallen heroes honored at memorial ceremony
By TANIQUE WILLIAMS
The lives of nine firefighters who died in the line of duty were honored at this year's Fallen Firefighters Memorial service on Tuesday, Oct. 8 at the Empire State Plaza in Albany. Their names have been added to the thousands already inscribed on the firefighter's monument, totaling 2,381 to date. This year's ceremony marks the sixteenth year New York has paid tribute to deceased firefighters.
Rev. Gerald Buckley, chaplain of the New York Professional Firefighters Association, who gave the invocation, said of the ceremony, "It is truly a celebration of their lives in fire service [and] their commitment in fire service. We salute now their new life, which is everlasting."
"This wall of fame — a statue of heroism — serves as a work of beauty, of art…it will always serve here as an image of what firefighters do in the call to duty. These men and women serve well, as always, in their call."
Firefighters from across the state stand to salute and pay tribute to the nine firefighters memorialized Photo by Matthew Dondiego.
Michael Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczowka, two West Webster Fire Department volunteers, died last Christmas Eve during an ambush in which two other firefighters were wounded. The firefighters were responding to a reported car fire when a gunman opened fire on them after setting his home ablaze.
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