Fire Department Remembers Its Dead 'Doing Difficult Work Despite Dangers'

At Fire Department’s annual memorial service Oct. 10 at the Firemen’s Monument on Riverside Drive, its members mourned the passing of 14 of their own over the past year, including three in the line of duty and three from World Trade Center-related afflictions.

“There is a musical masterpiece entitled The “Unfinished Symphony.” How is it possible that something is unfinished and is still a masterpiece?” Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, the FDNY Chaplain, asked the crowd of several thousand firefighters and family members. “Today we remember those whose lives were unfinished but still did more during the years given to them than some do in a much-longer lifetime.”