2024 Patriot Day

good afternoon everybody first off I want to thank you for coming here to reflection Park on this solemn day day that we will never forget in 2020 we dedicated this reflection area to our to our uh chairman Steve Lan and then Fire Chief Joe dagel who has since retired since then as this beautiful Park in the heart of the revitalized downtown Bonita Springs area we have walking path native foliage and this amazing mural painted by artist lauron daru and above uh above our centerpiece is a granite piece that previously at topped the walkway between the two Twin Towers before they fell on that faithful day September 11th today it is Our intention to honor those First Responders who lost their lives on that faithful day each day we hope this park can be utilized by the community as a space to reflect on the contributions and the ultimate sacrifice those men and women gave on that day on September 11th would everybody please stand for the invocation and present presentation of callar by the Springs color guard and by Mark Goodman chapl [Music] I go there hold [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] my name is Mark Goodman chaplain for stero fire rescue and I'm honored to deliver the invocation this afternoon 23 years ago today many Americans looked up into the sky caught off guard by the events of the day with uncertainty and looming and grieving the loss of so many and even in panic and Desperation cried out oh my God today this afternoon we look up to heaven with a confidence and resolve and renewed commitment as we boldly Proclaim oh my God God has his own 911 in the Bible Psalm 911 says he who dwells in the shelter of the most high will abide in the shadow of the almighty goes on to say I will say to the Lord my refuge in my Fortress my God in whom I trust verse 15 goes on to say he will call upon me and I will answer him I will be with him in trouble I will rescue him and honor him since we have such a promise let us bow our heads together to pray Father in heaven we thank you for this day and your goodness to us we thank you for the privilege we have to be here today in unity and strength and commitment we've gathered to remember and honor those First Responders who made the ultimate sacrifice 343 firefighters among those 2,977 who lost their lives that day not only those who gave their lives that day but even those who have are are continuing to perish as a result of 911 we made a promise that day to never forget we pray Lord that their memories and acts of selfless sacrifice their courage their bravery their determination the resolve and their willingness to lay down their lives to save others will never be forgotten Jesus said Greater Love Is No One than this that one would lay down his life for a friend those firefighters law enforcement officers and other First Responders laid down their lives that day for complete strangers your word also proclaims that we are to give honor to Those whom honor is due in this remembred summer ceremony we are endeavoring to do exactly that honor each and every one of them 23 years years later there are those perishing weekly of illnesses that were born out of the rescue and Recovery operation following the attack of Ground Zero they are just as much Heroes as those who died on 911 2001 our thoughts and prayers are with their families as well bring healing where possible to those suffering even today we ask that you will bless this Gathering as we remember and never forget let that thought not be reserved for a single day on an anniversary but every day we pray our your continued blessing and safety on our first responder community and those men and women in our military guarding our freedom all over the world and we pray these things in Jesus name amen if you would please all stand as you are and repeat after me the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all please remain standing for the national anthem can you see by the da to be was so PR we [Music] have at the TW light scaming who's Broad St and bright St through the P all the rampers we were was so and rock is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] reg through the night that I plan was still there oh say that star [Applause] SP [Music] way oh the land of the free in the of God God lord thank you you may all be be seated at this time I'd like to introduce chairman Steve Lohan of Bon Springs Fire board he's the chairman of the fire board and he's been a member of the Bia Springs Fire board since 2008 he became the chairman of the board in 2011 and again this is who this park is named after with his vision and you know generosity he made this he made this part a reality you know it's somewhere where we can reflect on what this day really means and as the chaplain said in his prayer you know it's not just for one day it's for every day that we sit and than that those fire Fighters that faithful day in New York City and in Pennsylvania gave the ultimate sacrifice that day to put their lives on the line protect us and that's what firefighters do every day 247 365 days in a year this time I'd like to turn it over to Chairman Lohan thank you Chief good evening everyone thanks for being here We Gather here on this solemn occasion to honor the memory of those who lost their lives on September 11th 20 2001 today marks 23 years since that tragic morning and yet the pain and impact of that day remain with us we come together not only remember those who were taken from us far too soon but also to pay tribute to the courage and strength of the First Responders the countless Heroes and the survivors whose resilience inspired a nation in the face of unimaginable tragedy our country stood together strangers became neighbors communities came together and From the Ashes of Devastation Rose A Renewed sense of solidarity and purpose that Spirit of unity is something we must carry forward today as we reflect on the events of 9/11 we remember that it wasn't just an attack on buildings but on the ideals we hold dear Freedom democracy and the belief that love is stronger than hate and yet we are remind reminded that even in the darkest of times hope endures let us take a moment to remember the nearly 3,000 lives lost that day the fathers mothers sisters brothers Sons and Daughters let us honor their Memories by upholding the values they represented and by striving to make our world a better more peaceful place may we also never forget the men and women in uniform both here and abroad who continue to serve and protect our freedoms with dedication and courage today we remember today we honor and today we vow to never forget thank [Applause] you thank you thank you chairman Lohan it's my honor now to introduce our keynote speaker his name is Tommy Burke AKA Norton Tommy served in Brooklyn for 26 years on Squad 252 before his retirement in 2005 on September 11th Tommy and his crew responded to the towers we're honored to have him here with us today to give his experience of to us of why we should never forget little known you know and Nicole Jennifer you know I I don't go to scripts very well and I I always go off script so you know I met Tommy you know during Hurricane Ian him and his crew came down from uh the tunnels and Towers you know they had nowhere to go go they knew Pita Springs Fort Meers Beach Southwest Florida was Ground Zero for us for that day back in September we didn't know them from anybody I didn't know Tommy didn't know Ray McCormack that well didn't know Tommy oconor Danny oconor any of these guys from New York City they came down our big cab they came down they walked in the firehouse said hey can you help us out here we need we need a little bit of room and we need some help and again as as our crews know my term Brotherhood is not a noun it's a verb and we sit there and we came up with a plan and they were here for 3 weeks helping Southwest Florida all the way from New York City down here helping our our crews our family and complete strangers rebuild and get them ready for what the insurance and what they can do to resolve their uh their own residents so at this time I'd like to bring up Tommy Bur [Applause] [Music] hello ladies and gentlemen my name is Tommy Burke better known as Norton in the New York City Fire Department um I met Greg uh that that week and he described it perfectly and how about a round of applause from GRE Chief Greg thewit I mean the guy without without meeting Chief uh Greg doitt we wouldn't be here so this this is a spectacular event but I also have to make it uh uh very clear that we have to thank all you guys for never forgetting coming here and celebrating and honoring the loss of life and the uh tragedy and the devastation that happened on 9/11 23 years ago wow everybody remembers 23 years ago on 911 where they were and what they did right I mean you know everyone remembers where JFK was the day he got assassinated all the teachers started crying they sent us home what's going on okay kind of the same thing uh we were under attack in our homeland New York City Pennsylvania Washington DC it was um quite extraordinary we never attacked in our own front yard except for theity okay sorry public speaking 101 sorry about that so um um what I'm trying to say is that it was such a a an an unbelievable day if you guys don't mind I'm going to uh go through uh the the day events how how it went down okay um my mom calls me like 8 9:00 in the morning she goes put on the news the news on and one one Tower is uh on on fire plane went into it and uh so oh my God so I right away called up Lieutenant uh uh Ray bringham who was uh my boss in Squad 252 and he's here today and uh at one point in time we're going to ask him to come up because we we did some unbelievable things that day but um so my mom calls so now I called Ray he says I'm taking the boat in Ray took a boat from masaa to the World Trade Center parked on West Side Highway he got there in no time uh I I knew I had to drive in I wanted to go to fir housee I wanted to a couple guys uh I called Kevin PRI Kevin Pryor was working that day uh we lost Kevin Pryor day so uh I called Kenny kavus I Kenny we got to go to go to the Firehouse everybody's running around confused crazy and uh um so I said we got we got to go we got to go okay so grab our gear we we go we're going down uh um nicob Baka Rue heading towards the World Trade Center and we passed the 83rd pret this like maybe 9:30 in the morning or whatever and I said uh I said hold on can I jump out of the car I go into the precinct the death Sergeant saw a fireman and and bunker gear and so he goes he goes two two office he goes take these two guys down to the World Trade Center right now LIC and CS so they took my car they parked it somewhere and then we got into a cop car and we went down flights and Sirens from Bushwick Brooklyn to uh low Manhattan where World Trade Center while we were going over the Brooklyn Bridge I see Lee iopi whose son died that uh day uh but he didn't know that at that point he was walking over the bridge I said stop the car we have to pick up Lee so now we got Lee iopi he was a rescue two guy uh his son was in uh I think Squad uh uh 288 and um okay so we get into the City and it's just a a a a giant uh like it's it's black it's like uh it's dark it's uh a big cloud of of smoke like and uh so the cops pull in they opened up the door smoke went in the door of the police car and uh and we get out and like you know you start coughing your eyes start to burn and and I said thanks guys they they leave so we're in a we we can't believe what we're seeing it is crazy right and it's This Magnificent Blue Sky day everything was the weather was phenomenal but there you didn't really see uh too much of that blue die for part part of the morning because it was it was it was like uh Dusty Smoky uh it was uh very very difficult to breathe and your eyes were burning so we start walking around and and Kenny kokas all he kept on saying to me is holy moly holy cow holy you know what and uh I know I know I know I know so I said just stay stay stay stay with me stay with me so I'm walking down and there was I mean just picture this guys this is like like the most bizarre Wireless thing I ever saw in my whole life okay I seen a lot of fires I I was in busy companies for 26 years now think about this we're walking down we're in Manhattan we're on Liberty Street and uh there was crushed fire trucks there was cop cars on fire and there was maybe 50 fifth alarms in all the buildings around where the World trades where the towers l 50 F alongs think about how much fire every floor had fire out the window window there was hundreds of Windows fire blown out the window and I'm like what is going on here so Kenny saying I I know agree so we we we're walking down and here's 113 truck and uh there's a a captain he goes are you a truck chauffer I said yes sir he goes put that aerial up so I I go the front of the fire Tru was crushed by part of the World Trade Center and there was no cab it's just an are lad I said cap I said I don't know how to tell you this but that area lad is not going up you know there was fire everywhere right and he goes why I said there's no front C to the to the truck okay son carry on okay so now me and Kenny walking down and we like at this point the roads are all full of debris so we're we're climbing over debris we're going through you know and uh I'm thinking I'm I'm starting to ask guys where's 252 do you guys see Squad 252 anybody see Squad at 252 and nobody no one knew nothing they everybody was in shock everybody was like with their jaw hanging down like oh my God it was unbelievable right with all of the fire and the devastation and not one of those fires would be put out that one line was being stretched so it was very surreal that I'm a fireman if there's a fire we stretch a line we put out the fire put up ladders get the people out and that's what we did that wasn't happening it was everyone was just in shock so uh I I started asking people go where did anybody see Squad 252 anybody see Squad 252 not knowing that both of our fire trucks were crushed buried okay and and we're walking down um um 10 and 10 I think on Liberty Street right we're now the World Trade Center's like right there and we're right here and the firehouse 10 and 10 is right here and it's just a pile of rubel like 20 stories high uh you know Flame some smoke coming out all fire all the building surrounding everything is is devastated everything's crazy and we're trying I'm try I'm asking does anybody know where the command post was that's where the Chiefs would be setting up to where the guys had a report in so that was a very important uh uh thing to try to find where that was and I wanted to find Squad 252 so me we're walking we're walking down we're walking down and uh and I see a guy and he's he's black he's bleeding from the head and his shirt's ripped and I said oh Kenny this guy don't look good so I go over and it's Mike dunan me and Mike worked in 111 truck for 15 years Superstar he's a captain at that point right and uh he's dazed and confused he got he got covered with a wave of concrete and steel and was able to get himself out but he didn't really know where he was so I said Mike I said are you okay you okay and I'm shaking him and he goes I'm okay I'm okay so uh I S an ambulance over there and there was some paramedics over there I said well when got those guys I said get this guy fix this guy fix this guy right now fix this guy so they worked on him and uh they put him in in in the whatever so me and Kenny go down to uh oh Mike Donovan said to me I said Mike where was the command post he goes on uh West Side Highway by the Atri back okay but he he was at right so he he's he's still alive he's great he's doing good uh uh he survived and uh and continued working for another couple years but he he almost bought the farm that thing God was good to him so now we go we get down to the Westside Highway and that's where the command post was and like there was waves like like waves of the you know the the World Trade Center had those big aluminum things on the front like you know it's like like you know anyway they were like huge and uh so they were all over the place cuz they slid off the front of the building and it was like mountains and mountains of debris there was uh fires here fires there fires everywhere there was guys Dazed and Confused uh it couldn't get any information from anybody nobody really knew anything because they didn't know what was going on they were in shocked they were uh Dazed and Confused what the hell is so so um me and Kenny go down to the West Side Highway and I see a a white helmet over there and then something really good happened uh uh my buddy uh Ray breing BR come up come up here he he was my boss in Squad 252 and he's on the westside highway right where they start to dig for chief gansy okay thanks right so so Ray there he came by boat right and um and and and uh there was a dog uh running around right and uh I said how you doing right so we were thinking that the command post was like right in this area over here so I asked that guy what does that dog do he goes it uh it it it detects uh human blood so I said good so I said what we have him walk around here so the dog's name was bear bear walks around for whatever and he sits down like what's that mean he goes there's somebody right underneath here 20t under where bear sat down me and Ray dug with guys from like uh 36 engine guys from other companies you know it was it was a big operation and and and we were digging we were taking off that metal we were moving concrete we were uh we like maybe 3 or 4 hours right and then we we see uh we see his glove we digging we see uh uh uh Chief gans's turnout coat and and then oh my God this is Chief there's his name uh chief gansy chief of department and uh oh my God so me and Ray a diing and a guy from 36 engine and a whole bunch of guys now at this point there's a lot of guys coming around because they they know we need help so who would have thought it Greg Greg said to me can you imagine the thing we used the most was 5 gallon buckets from uh from uh Home Depot and that's the Bucket Brigade we would we had lines and lines of buckets we were digging the rubel moving it and uh you know well anyway we get uh to um the point where we're Chief digging out Chief gansy and we get him we get them and uh you know uh we we we get a stretch and and uh and uh it was it was very involved very difficult very arduous and uh but that didn't make a difference we had our chief here and and in the beginning we thought we were going to get guys live because we were there in a matter of an hour hour and a half there was no live guys man there was nobody live sorry to say and uh maybe a few guys in the stairwell six uh six truck or something like that but uh now we we get Chief gansy out and Ray Ray Ray said realizes that this is the where the command post was so there must be some other Chiefs here so we dig like a few feet over and we see another glove or another uh um thing and we start digging digging right next to uh chief fan was uh Chief gansy was uh deputy chief John uh Bill fan a World War II vet okay and they were in a running position heading to shelter in the atrium which was back that way well that the wave of of of debris and the wave of of concrete and steel didn't you know they didn't make it so so we we were digging there for a long time and uh we we we we got those guys out and then while we were digging for a chief uh fan my lieutenant from 111 truck uh Tony Fernandez has a like a a either a an asthma attack or some kind of attack he goes down while we're digging there and he's my boss from The Nut House 111 truck I go what the heck is going on here so I said we need oxygen somebody give me oxygen give me okay so now we're digging we're taking care of Lieutenant Fernandez and uh uh guys were starting to come in and now there's a lot of guys around us because we just found uh the two most important guys in our job right so uh that went on for six seven hour I don't know really long time so we those guys got out we got them them their bodies together and they took them up wherever whatever it took them so Ray and I uh were like totally wiped out everybody was beat because they worked so hard there at that moment and then uh so we would we were taking a rest and then uh we started up again we started walking around and searching and we you had to go see God God's blessing us [Applause] I'm [Music] trying okay thank you God so [Music] good we're good thank you okay so um so now we're we we're searching around we're crawling through all these like uh like Greg Greg said they had a a collapse in Miami uh Sur and and 90 90 something people passed and uh they went down there as a you saw team or something and they were doing the same same thing we were doing they did bucker brigades they were crawling into every little space you know like you see this little space here we would crawl into this little space here and go and keep on going until and looking for looking for people so it was it was quite uh intense and uh labor intensive and but it didn't make a difference cuz we wanted to get our brothers we weren't even thinking about that we just wanted to find our guys so now around around maybe 5:00 in the afternoon uh Building 7 World Trade Center 7 uh uh oh wait I I got back up I went into the courtyard of this building uh seven that collapsed at 5:00 and it was um did you ever hear a dust devil well it was a smoke devil like it was it was like a tornado and a giant quad in in this in the back of this uh 50 story building that there was fire out every window every window so it was it was like crazy and there was there was uh there was papers there was folders there was money in in that dust cloud there was uh things on fire it was it was crazy crazy crazy right so uh they were ordering us out order us out because it've been on fire for hours so they order us out and at 5:00 the whole thing collapsed down and it sounded like it was the the end of the world because that whole building came down and we were all right there and it's like right you know we were back there and it happened over there so uh that happened so now now that's a collapse on top of a collapse and which still no one knows what's going on still trying to figure out what's going on and uh so that night uh me and Reay uh found uh a boat a boat and we we we took like a couple hour uh rest on on a boat on the wests side highway and then uh we went back to searching and uh somehow we got split up but uh I ended up in the Marriott hotel which was this huge Hotel fully occupied and uh there was a shaft uh that you know I don't know like maybe a 25 ft shaft and uh I went up into the shaft and uh there was a a a mask a four .5 Scot M uh with a guy attached to it stuck uh between I beams and concrete so I was telling those guys to give me a hallan give me a hook and I'm trying to pull them down and the blood was dripping off the MK coming down or I was like what I couldn't get them I I tried as hard as I could and the chief say yeah the buildings are groaning they go they're they're shifted uh it's it's smoky it's hot and like I don't know I don't know if I get this guy the guys were handing me tools and well anyway I'm so sorry and I have nightmares about that I never got that guy and I to this day I don't know what happened to that guy God bless us all so um that was a little bit of what happened on the first day of 9/11 and that's just one story there's millions of stories guys everybody has their story Ray can go on and tell other stories how about Chris King who here a retired New York City fireman his dad was a lieutenant in I think 14 engine and he were first through at the 1993 the first bombing of the World Trade Center his dad Chris King was there Mike King right unbelievable and and Kevin McAdams 45 truck Squad uh 41 was uh digging down there the whole time he's here thank you very much guys and um it was just a an extraordinary experience but here's here's I'm okay I just gave you that one day it went on and on it was crazy crazy and I'm not so but here's what I the message the message is that the whole country there was a beautiful thing with all this death and destruction is how everybody in America everybody in the world there was guys diing next to me from from Australia from Germany from China from I mean it was you know it was amazing okay so then uh um it was everybody's the the high school the elementary school kids would uh would draw uh pictures of fire trucks on papers and say we love you and pictures of of of the World Trade Center we love the New York City fireman and they send it to all the firehouses and then they had they made blankets and quilts with we love you New York City fireman thank you thank you thank you and it was just amazing the outpour and the love and uh it was spectacular it was never seen a sense and that's what this world needs today more than anything now the on the westside Highway when you came down from uh Uptown Harlem or Midtown whatever there was literally hundreds of young kids with American flags when you were when you drove down Westside Highway they were singing God Bless America and waving the flags and Thanking us you know it was just our job you know we just went to go in and get get our guys and think so I mean it was amazing so you guys get the Applause today and never forgetting and uh and and maintaining the the values and the traditions of the New York City fight upon department and the Bonita Springs Fire Department and all the First Responders uh men and women uh they're phenomenal phenomenal and and uh there was we now what you might not know is that we were finding some of our guys and so now when you found a a fireman he got a funeral but if you didn't find a fireman he got a memorial service so you know so we wanted to get whole bodies but there wasn't a lot of whole bodies in Squad 252 guys I'm just going to name their names uh commissioner fan uh we found him uh uh Timmy Higgins Lieutenant Timmy Higgins was my Proby class 4779 uh we found him he got a funeral Uh Kevin prior in the North Tower uh on the 20th floor we found him P the high they got funerals we never found Tyrell Coleman Tommy Kus Pete langone uh Tyro Tyro com right uh so so they got Memorial services so now you're digging for your guys and you find them you take off you take off from digging and you go to to to the funeral and you go back up diing and you try to find the other guy and it was very very hard it was it was difficult it was uh it was it worked on your mind because you know you were doing your best to try to get the guys and now you're burying you know so was it was tough it was a hard time you know and uh we did the best we could do but um there was uh mayor Giuliani when he would go to the funerals he would give a a eulogy and he he's a way better speaker than I am but he he said that that because of the efforts of the New York City Police Department the New York City Fire Department and and the First Responders in New York that they were able to evacuate 20,000 or 25,000 people who lived and we lost 3,000 that day and uh we lost 334 firefighters we lost 37 Port Authority cops and third 23 New York City Police Department I honor those guys with a bracelet I wear every day and I honor my guys in 252 with a bracelet that's how I honor my guys so never forget I never forget and I miss them every day so when uh 300 343 guys right Kevin and and and and and and Chris king and Ray there was like they knew 100 of those 343 guys right my nickname's n there's aund those guys who call me n nor what are we doing where we going what are we doing gone so was really hard and it was so 23 years later here we are but I feel like mean raage was just was yesterday that's how how impactful and incredible it is so um in closing [Music] um much many many thanks to a great great man and a great leader Chief Greg thewit thank you thank you thank you thank you and guys thank R bre Kevin McAdams and Chris King and and their their girls to come down as far my girl CC for supporting me thank you thank you and um um so the the to me uh it it's I'm grateful that you were showing appreciation and never forget and may we never forget and uh I I just have to say one or two more things um I am a volunteer for the tunnel to Towers uh I I was in Squad 252 stepen Steven Stell Stella was in squad one both Brooklyn companies and we used to be work together he could I get details I knew him he he you know you know the story right he ran through the towers he went up there he was on the 40th floor getting people out and and we never even found him and uh and he had five kids so this organization the Tower of the tunnels is phenomenal they they do uh uh homeless vets uh if if a marine comes home wounded or shot they they they fix they make customized houses for them they it's a great organization guys and we're very proud to volunteer for them Kevin all of us Ray and uh and Chris and but our guy is Tommy Okana and and and so Frank still calls up Tommy Okana he says guy uh uh Tommy I need guys in uh in in uh Bonita Springs so we're there in a couple of days and that that's how it happened so so so that's how we give back we we're trying to give back and help people wherever the devastation is but that's a great organization guys if uh uh you want to look that one up um what else uh um that's it oh oh they just reminded me of something very important I'm sorry nobody knows about this there was unsung heroes on 911 called iron workers called uh LS called um uh uh sanitation guys called uh EMS guys so how about this uh we we find uh uh Lieutenant Timmy Higgins and there's a a big giant ibeam on him and like you know it's all things on right and I go oh man so we're kneeling down digging digging digging and and a guy right next to us an onion worker this guy this American flag hard hat on he goes hold on hold on he gets a torch he cuts the ibam like that and we were able to get our guy out right he takes that steel and he goes back and he makes he goes how many guys did you lose I say seven he makes seven crosses out of that steel that he cut out and he goes give these to the families of those uh fire that lost their life so no one even knows that you workers you know so thank you that but there's so many stories guys it's it's it's it's it's way beyond our our capacity to understand what happened because there literally millions of stories everyone remembers where they are everybody you know and we did what we had to do and uh I'm so proud of uh being a New York City fireman it was the best thing that ever happened to me you know I'd be Stu in uh I'd be stock in shelves in A&P if I wasn't a fireman you know you know what I mean so um thank you very much thank you thank you for everything and God bless all you guys God bless a nice day for America [Applause] paper or plastic sir paper or plastic yeah yeah yeah of course sir thank you again Tommy again I'm proud to say Tommy Burke is my brother thank you very much at this time um as part of our observance of the 23rd anniversary of September 11 we'd like to partake in a tradition of ringing of the Bell this time I'd like to call up assistant chief Jason bro to announce what it is and then Frank Todd will be doing the ring the ringing of the Bell is a tradition of the fire service which intends to honor those who have gave their lives to their Duty the sound of the Bell represents the end of an emergency and the return to quarters the sequence of rings is also significant the code 5555 has been used in the fire service since 1870 to Signal the death of a firefighter today we will ring the bell 23 times four sets of five rings and on the and an additional three to honor all lost on that faithful day may we never forget [Music] [Laughter] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] I [Music] [Music] thank you at this time I would like to thank mayor Rick Stein Miner for being here Jamie bogas from District 2 Lura car oh district one I'm sorry and lur car from District 3 for being here on behalf of the city and our brothers and sisters at Le County Sheriff's office by by led by Captain Blake Lee then for the fireboard we have Stephanie Kissinger fireboard Commissioner James Murphy fireboard Commissioners as well I've already introduced chairman of the board Steve Lohan along with my executive staff of assistant chief assistant chief Jason bro and deputy chief Andy Schmidt I'd also like to thank Arlene Hunter at the back she's lowkey she always stays in the back of the room uh City Manager for uh allowing us to do this and for the proclamation the city has dedicated day September 11th in the city of Bonita Springs all day long and the plags are a half staff because of that so thank you very much to the city of Springs as we conclude today's ceremony and before we break for Refreshments we'd like to take a moment to commemorate the 343 firefighters that were lost that day up in the front of the by the Bell we have cards adorned to flags of all 343 firefighters that were lost that day what we've done over the years is we've taken we've asked the public to help us and take those flags and placed them in the flower pots over next to the ctis the ctis stone is something that was recovered from the World Trade Centers it was it was in the courtyard between the two towers our late uh train officer Paul Phillips along with one of his best friends Paul dearman went to New York City acquired this piece and brought it back and dedicated it to the B Springs Fire Department so we honor them we honor the 343 we honor chairman Lohan and chief dagel who this park is named after so so if Chief bro would find his way to in front to assist that please place your flag in the golden stands by the U cstone and thank you again for coming we do have refreshments and cookies uh when this is done so thank you again and this concludes our ceremony again God Bless America God bless thank you for