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Thousands
Honor New York Firefighters' 9/11 Dead
Sat Oct 12, 1:53
PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) -
Tens of thousands of firefighters from around
the world and grieving relatives filled Madison
Square Garden arena and the surrounding blocks
in New York on Saturday to honor the 343
firefighters who died in the World Trade Center
attack last year.
With steady rain
falling in the city, an honor guard carried
flags for each of the dead as a procession of
firefighters marched behind an antique
hand-drawn pumper wagon and a pipes and drum
band to the arena.
Thousands of
spectators also lined the wet streets along
Eighth Avenue to welcome the marchers and to
watch huge screens placed around the city
showing the ceremony inside the arena, which was
packed with 25,000 people.
For more than an
hour while many wept, the names of those who
died were read out. At the end of the name-call,
the audience gave a 10-minute standing ovation.
The ceremony is an
annual event for dead firefighters but was
canceled last year after the Sept. 11 attacks,
which killed about 3,000 people. Saturday's
event also paid tribute to 16 dead firefighters
who would have been honored at the 2001
ceremony.
The event was held
as city firefighters, who have been without a
contract for 29 months, are demanding higher
pay.
In a speech, former
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (news - web sites)
likened the dead firefighters of Sept. 11 to
"our soldiers, sailors and Marines at Pearl
Harbor. They were our first line of
defense," he said.
"I wish they
were all here, that we could close our eyes and
make it all go away but we can't," he said,
telling relatives "all of you are going to
mourn forever. Every time I feel like crying and
I do, I feel proud."
Mayor Michael
Bloomberg said the firefighters "showed the
world that the city is a city of strength. Their
actions have forever rewritten the history of
the city."
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