Memorial to the 9/11 dead
A MEMORIAL to commemorate members of the New York emergency services who died in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre is be unveiled in the Donadea forest in Co. Kildare.
Last year, 343 oak trees were planted in the forest park to honour the members of the fire service who died.
The parents of Sean Tallon from Station 10 — one of the first firemen to die trying to save others on September 11 — came from the area. He had been home to visit his grandmother just three weeks before the attack.
Retired CIE training inspector Tony Doran — who set up the Emerald Phoenix Odyssey organisation after the disaster — said the memorial will be the only one of its kind outside America.
The limestone memorial will be inscribed with the names of over 400 emergency staff who died including 343 firemen, 37 port authority police and 23 city policemen.
Nearly 3,000 people died after the planes hit the towers, but tens of thousands were evacuated safely.
Last year, 70 firemen received civic receptions in Dublin and Cork when they toured north and south of the border during the unveiling of the Donadea commemorative forest.
Visits to Monaghan and Omagh — where the firemen met relatives and victims of the 1974 and 1998 bombing atrocities — were particularly poignant.
Tony set up his organisation because he felt September 11 survivors amongst the emergency services needed a break.
“These people were first responders at Ground Zero and I felt it was important they got some respite from their surroundings.
“Everybody was looking after the welfare of widows and orphans but no one seemed to think of the survivors and those working at Ground Zero to recover body parts.”
The unveiling ceremony on September 21 will be attended by about 80 members of the forces who are coming from New York as well as pilots and cabin crew from American airlines.
“A special commemorative mass will be held in the Franciscan Order’s Adam and Eve church in Dublin before the unveiling. The Franciscans are the chaplains to both CIE and the New York fire brigade,” Tony said.
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