Irish America magazine - Oct/Nov '03 issue: Cate Blanchett, Veronica Guerin, Bing Crosby, Paddy Moloney and the Chieftains, the Jeanie Johnston, Catherine Hicks, Peter O’Malley and the Dodgers, Women in the Army, Shalom Ireland, Graham Norton

Photo right: John Kelly, trustee of Uniformed Firefighters Association, at the Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance. The wall is engraved with images of the 115 Brooklyn firefighters who lost their lives on 9/11.

The idea for the memorial, an imposing 20-by-12-foot granite wall, was conceived by businessman Sol Molgen who told Bill Farrell of the Daily News, “I spent 50 years of my life in Brooklyn, and I wanted to do something for those firefighters who went over the bridge on September 11 and never returned.”

With the help of Peter Kasten, whose best friend firefighter Chris Pickford was killed on 9/11, Molgen began raising the more than $140,000 needed for the wall, which was dedicated this past spring.

Molgen said he hoped that the memorial, which has been installed at Keyspan Park in Coney Island, would help bring closure for the families. “Now, at least those families whose loved ones were never found will have a place to visit.”