Firefighters salute September 11 victims
The New York firefighters who lost their lives on September 11 were remembered in prayers today by hundreds of their counterparts in the UK.
Up to 400 firefighters from all over the country filled St Giles’ Church in Cripplegate, in the City of London for the annual Firefighters Service of Remembrance, organised by the Firefighters Memorial Charitable Trust.
The Rev Andrew Paterson, a firefighter in Lothian and Borders, leading the prayers, included “the 343 New York firefighters and their priest” who died on September 11, and all those who were caught up in that atrocity.
The Rev Katharine Rumens, Rector of St Giles, giving the address, said: “You could argue that the events on September 11, when jetliners smashed into the Twin Towers, brought the 20th century to a close.
“It is considered by some as the most memorable event of the past 100 years.
“When the event happened, while it happened, we knew we were watching history unfold.”
She added: “We live with indelible images, the film footage, the photographs, the heartrending messages of love left on answering machines by those staring their death in the face, and the acts of those caught up in the attacks.”
She said a reporter had spoken of how her life was saved by a member of the New York City Fire Department.
“With debris raining down, the firefighter pressed her against a wall, she could feel his heart beating against her back, she had been sure that this was how she would die.”
Ms Rumens told the congregation: “You know the danger of falling debris, the images you carry with you are not learned from television, radio or the press, it is your heart that beats, you know what fire smells like, you know the touch of charred wood and twisted metal.
“You live daily with danger as a fact of your working life.”
She added: “What you do is not forgotten. Your courage lives on in other people’s lives and touches the world for good.”
She said the work done at Ground Zero “taught us new lessons in loyalty and love”.
She went on: “Each flag-draped stretcher and coffin, every moment of silence, has given us a new appreciation of the world respect.”
After the service, the firefighters marched to their memorial near St Paul’s Cathedral, where wreathes were laid and a one-minute silence held.
