I still see you in my mind Walking in stomach turning but yet thinking "this is gona be a bitch" thinking that perhaps you wont make that special appointment tonight and you will have to make a call when you get a chance. I see you shoulder loading a line after a car fire, tired because of the structure fire you fought just before this little piece of action. I see you as you smile and turn your head as the engine, returning from a call, passes by a pretty girl on the street. I see you working on the roof venting to make it easier on the guys inside and below you. I see you gently lift somebody, a stranger, from there vehicle after having spent twenty minutes cutting them out. I see you washing the truck and drying it off in front of the station. I see you laughing as another one is pulled over the probies eyes. I see you sitting quietly reading the paper or watching TV finally getting some rest. I see you in the early morning cold tired but still doing the job as you have done so many times before.
Though I never met you I knew you, you were, . . . are, my brothers, all 343 of you.
God bless the companies which did not return, God bless those who were and shall always be there, Glod bless FDNY, and God Bless the Fire Service.
Eric Rush, Firefighter
Waynesburg Vol. Fire Company