9/11“美国消防局”

This morning I was preparing to head off to the 9/11 Ceremony the FOOLS were holding at the downtown house. I was heading out with mixed emotions, wondering if what I had written out for opening remarks would be appropriate, would it be taken well? Should I re-write it? My stomach hurt. There are so many things to consider when speaking to a large group and then again, ...sometimes you need to just shoot fromt the hip.

When I was preparing my remarks I was thinking, "What more can be said about 9/11?" What can be said? That we haven't changed, we still struggle to lay aside a few hours of our time to remember 343 (345 ref. Deutsche Fire) firefighters that were slain, killed, ....murdered. Some folks wince at the use of that word. But that is what is was, wasn't it? So I came back to my previous conclusions which I had written down already. We promised we would remember. So we must.

我期待着它,但我不喜欢。虽然说ing or reading names or bowing our heads as the bell peals alone, I feel inadequate and unable to do justice to the issue. We are alive, we breathe, we go home and hold our children in our arms. Those that died that day will not ever. The little toddlers they left at home are now in their teens, and the teens are grown adults.

我打电话给我的兄弟伯格。我认为，我认为，我突然意识到我想今天早上与他交谈。当他离开家时，我打断了他向妻子告别，我想：“通常是多么典型”。珍惜每一刻。我知道他的妻子，就像我的妻子一样，当他走开卡车爬上去时，呼吸一点点。我的妻子告诉我，一旦她感到内gui，每次轮班后我都会回家。因为很多人从来没有回家。
Berg was feeling much like myself. Just kind of in awe of the moment. Here we are eight years later and how it seems like yesterday the towers fell and at the same time, an age. An age has come and gone. A generation of firemen has been impacted to such an extent that we will remember 9/11 in the same way that the Kennedy Assassination was for the previous generation. A haunting. No? Not you?
你不记得它的感觉吗？第一次惊讶，然后难以置信，然后是一个知道，毫无疑问，您知道所有这些纽约人都在那些塔楼上的扭曲确定性。他们还在哪里？他们是FDNY，...您知道他们在那里。我怀疑他们知道会发生什么。但是再说一次，也许他们以某种方式感觉到了。但是我认为他们不会回头，甚至不会。

Talking with Berg, I felt such Brotherhood, such friendship and I thought, "If anyone understands how I'm feeling this morning its this guy." This then is the legacy of 9/11. Perhaps this is where our words belong. Dwelling on what has been salvaged. For one thing I know, the Brotherhood we cherish so deeply was reborn by that tragedy. In one sweeping moment, we all became one for a time, and in so many ways we have continued to be one. Remember? Remember how badly you wanted to be there, at Ground Zero. How badly you wanted to help dig? To help them put things back together.
I know my Brother Berg felt that way, as I did. It tore us asunder. It rocked me to my foundation. Everything that is a fireman within me grieved. Still does. So Berg is in Seattle and I am in Fairbanks, and Glover is in the Carolina's, Hankins in Nor Cal, Mikey in Florida, Depoto, Shep, Lee, Big Bird, Old Gallagher, Sippy Cup, Sven, all firemen I've come to know because I began to reach out for "Brotherhood" across the miles. To be able to say yes, "I am one with you, we are of the same mind, same heart and same passion." I know that although for many old firemen this Brotherhood was never lost, for so many of us, 9/11 helped us define what we were looking for. It led the way to what was missing in the fire service, that we knew was there, but it lay hidden, under old wounds and scars, waiting to be rediscovered. It awakened on 9/11. But as it awakened it pulled in the entire nation of firemen, not just one clan.

We are, as Berg said to me today, of the "American Fire Department". The 9/11 legacy.

Here is how my short speech turned out:



“为了纪念今天，我发表了我的开幕词，来自黑头协会的兄弟会，9/11仪式。仪式包括关键音符，贝尔服务，阅读343位加上其他公务员的名字。点燃343蜡烛。

9/11 OPENING REMARKS
PRESIDENT, FARTHEST NORTH FRATERNAL ORDER OF LEATHERHEADS

I am often asked each year why we need to observe 9/11. There is a desire to let it rest. I can understand that. As a people, Americans are never in a mood to dwell on the past, tend to forget history and are quick to forgive. Many folks do not want to feel that pain again, or be reminded of it, but it is that pain that lets us know we are alive and breathing. But eight years ago, when the towers fell and over 343 firemen and policemen, and public workers were murdered along with nearly 3000 civilians, we as a people and especially the American Fire Service made a promise. We promised to “NEVER FORGET”.

AS FOR ME, I CANNOT FORGET. I CANNOT LET IT GO, AND PERHAPS, I CHOOSE NOT TO. AND I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO KEEP MY PROMISE. I WILL NEVER FORGET.

黑头协会的兄弟会秩序是为了保存消防局的兄弟情谊而形成的。我们是美国消防局的战士诗人，他们加紧捍卫我们骄傲的职业的传统和传统。我们并不是唯一这样做的人，但我们是专门为它而成立的，并且会警惕地追求它。

话虽如此，塔楼倒下的那一刻，所有这些消防员都死了。他们进入了我们的遗产和传统，成为我们代表的兄弟情谊的焦点。他们是“最终牺牲”的明显，有形，痛苦的例子，即消防员受到我们誓言的约束，为公众服务。

Who would have thought that they could have made a difference by the time they reached the 80th floors? But they did! We know that now.

谁能认为他们的损失会导致美国消防局中这种现象的大量复兴，称为“兄弟会”？但是这样做了。并继续这样做。

Who does not remember that today, our nation, our people, our young people are still fighting a war that began that day. But many, many have forgotten.

That is why the FOOLS remember every year. We promised. It is our duty. It is our haunting. And we would have it so!!!

这一代历史上没有其他事件像那天早晨一样使我们震惊了我们的核心，以及随后的几周。今天，与我一起，我的发动机公司是年轻的消防员，当时这是小学时。教他们并向他们展示我们的感受，我们的感受和永远不会忘记是我们庄严的责任。我们首先是公务员。当我们戴上徽章并宣誓就职时，我们自己的生命就牺牲了。

我想把今年的仪式DNY's Captain Mike Dugan, who is larger than life both physically and in reputation. He continues to work every shift, with the memory of so much loss. I only wish I could be half the fireman that he is. I was priveledged to meet him this summer, and felt small in comparision. If we did not mark this date, and set aside time to remember it, I would not be able to look him in the eye.

Thank you for joining us today."