FireLink

Thanks so much for your continued service to America!

Thank you for the invite.

Curious, did you folks mean FDNY?
It’s been NYPD – New York Police Dept.
FDNY – Fire Dept. of New York
Originally it was FDNYC – Fire Dept. of New York City and became shorten over time.

I thought it was NYFD... thanks for the correction.... lol

OOPs!!

Thanks for the invite.

Thanks for the invite, stay safe and enjoy life.

My group of rescuers was in New York from September 21, 2001 on. I can't believe how well the FDNY, NYPD, EMS & the rest dealt with that tragedy.
They were also tremendous to us, finding us hotel rooms (with the firefighter's discount, no less!), refusing to let us pay for a thing (one restaurant took up a collection to pay for the Canadians' dinners, and we all got monstrously hung over on our last day in NYC courtesy the bars of Times Square and surrounding area) and the FDNY gift shop at the Fire Museum (where we worked mostly) insisted that we raid the gift shop. I still wear my FDNY Paramedic's jacket everywhere as a not-so-subtle "did you forget?"
Love the FDNY, and my wife knows that my ultimate birthday or Chritmas gifts are an FDNY helmet and/or jacket.
I tease my FD friends all the time - "You guys are brave but not too bright - you'll run IN while I'm busy running OUT." I don't mean it, really - I've been inside a live fire, and I've always appreciated firefighters & EMTs, all the way back to Paramedic John Gage & Rescue 51 when I was a kid.
"The Ultimate Sacrifice" has become trite; a generic platitude. I just like to say, "Three hundred and forty three", whenever someone starts in on how brave firefighters are.

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Debate over. Bless you boys (and girls).

And I thank you for the correction...I'll make sure to mention them next time we're talking about that in my class...One would be a horrible number.

I reviewed "Last Man Down" by Battalion Commander Richard Picciotto without having read it yet, because I heard the man speak at a public safety day at a mall here in St. Louis 3 years ago. Talk about a hairy experience, trapped in rubble for 4 hours, and all the glitches and human factors in the evacuation! I'm halfway through the book now, and it's living up to expectations. He's gritty, critical of departmental underfunding and misplaced priorities, and isn't afraid to use salty language to make his point. The book starts with a list of all 343 FFs who died. Chief "Pitch" was a 28-year veteran at the time, and was the highest-ranking FDNY guy in the building, although not with his own company...he just picked up a group of guys and went in. They were on the 6th floor, on their way back down from 35, when the North tower collapsed around their ears. Wound up on 2nd. Great story, and everyone should read it.
[Just finished the book...the ordeal they endured after finding their way out of the void was as bad as what went before, picking their way over acres of gigantic piles of rubble, eyes burning from all the toxic dust, etc.]

How old are your kids? If you think they are old enough, by all means, do tell the story. My kids lived through it by proxy. They WILL NEVER FORGET! We lost 21 very close friends and 3 family members. I went back “home” for 12 days and worked and then did Funeral duty. My kids knew a lot of them as Uncle so & so. They were all family and telling about it and about them, keeps there memory alive in us. Lest We Forget.

sandy2501 said:

How old are your kids? If you think they are old enough, by all means, do tell the story. My kids lived through it by proxy. They WILL NEVER FORGET! We lost 21 very close friends and 3 family members. I went back “home” for 12 days and worked and then did Funeral duty. My kids knew a lot of them as Uncle so & so. They were all family and telling about it and about them, keeps there memory alive in us. Lest We Forget.