Police, firefighters place sacrifice above politics in 9/11 ceremony
A teary ceremony on Thursday to remember the 403 first-responders who died on 9/11 set a potential stage for Memphis fire and police to campaign against cuts to the health care subsidies for city employees.
Police officers, firefighters and other city workers on Friday will get their first paychecks reflecting a 24 percent cut to subsidies on their health insurance premiums.
But for the memorial event to remember those who lost their lives responding to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, officers and firefighters put on their Class A uniforms and a demeanor to match, focusing on the sacrifice and heroism of first-responders who rush toward danger, not away from it. There was no mention of this summer’s decisions at City Hall that reduce worker benefits, at least not through the microphones at the Fire Museum of Memphis.
Of those who died, 343 were firefighters.
The closest any speaker came to the political issue may have been during the prayer.
“Dear God, truly, as we look at the fact that we lay our lives daily for our friends, the citizens of this great city, this great metropolitan area, we lay it down because we choose to serve our citizens,” Memphis Fire Department Chaplain Kenneth Brown said.
“Help us, oh Lord, to look beyond the obstacles that are in our way as servants,” he said. “And help us to remember the reason why we are here: That our citizens may stay safe and sound.”
The Wolf River Pipes and Drums of Memphis played the slow march “Rowen Tree” and “Amazing Grace” on their bagpipes.
Service dogs Tank, Memphis, Ike, Newman, Charlie and Ty, all of Tennessee Task Force One, quietly observed the ceremony while lined up against a wall.
Downtown resident Marilyn Livesay brought her 6-year-old son, Marlon Yates, even though he’d be late reporting to Downtown Elementary. “I think it’s important,” Livesay said.
Marlon got to experience the solemn ritual signaling that a firefighter died in the line of duty. In three sequences separated by a pause, a bell tolled five times.
“There’s a special brotherhood that fire and police share,” Penny McKinney Smith, general manager of the Fire Museum, told the crowd of about 125. “And sometimes we think that people on the outside don’t really get it and understand that brotherhood and that sisterhood. Because only when you’ve been there in the trenches do you really understand.
“But it’s times such as 9/11 that really open the doors just a little bit to let civilians feel what you experience day in and day out.”
Middle Tennessee artist Darrell Lynn unveiled the artwork he donated permanently to the museum. “Honoring Our Heroes” features the portraits of about 300 of the first-responders who died on 9/11.
Afterward, as police officers and firefighters took photos of the memorial with their cellphones, Fire Director Alvin Benson talked about the benefits issue only because he was asked by a reporter.
“Firefighters and police officers, they don’t do it for the money,’’ Benson said. “... I know our people do it because they love service. They love helping, they love giving back.
“But at the same time it’s fair to compensate people who put their lives on the line every day,” he said. “Today represents 343 firefighters who did that very thing.”