by NANCY DILLON and JONATHAN LEMIRE
His eyes watering, Brooklyn Firefighter Richie Murray held his hand to his temple in a crisp salute, his thoughts with his fallen colleagues. The names of the men he loved as brothers were read aloud: Capt. Martin Egan, Lts. Robert Regan and Robert Wallace and Firefighters Vernon Cherry, Leon Smith, Joseph Agnello, Scott Davidson, and Pete Vega. "I'm even more emotional this year. I'm feeling the loss more than ever before," said Murray, who has spent 25 years working out of the Engine 205/Ladder 118 firehouse in Brooklyn Heights. "These men were my family. I think about them every single day." The collapse of the World Trade Center claimed the lives of 343 members of the FDNY. The image of Ladder 118's rig racing over the Brooklyn Bridge toward the burning twin towers on 9/11 was immortalized on the front page of the Daily News. All six men aboard the truck were lost. Two other men from the firehouse also were killed. "I really feel like I'm still back in 2001, my days are so empty without my boy," said Irene Smith, clutching a homemade sign commemorating her son Leon's life. "I'm just glad this firehouse is a close-knit family and helps take care of me." Similar scenes of sorrow and solidarity played out at FDNY units across the city. Firefighters observed four moments of silence marking the times the hijacked jets exploded into the towers and the moments the towers collapsed. The silence was punctuated only by calls to attention, a series of salutes and the sobs of grieving relatives. "We have a motto, 'We never forget,'" said Firefighter John Sorrentino, a 15-year veteran of Ladder 118. "It feels like a lifetime has passed, but for my friends, I remember them like I saw them yesterday." On the lower East Side, several Bravest shared the morning with President Bush during a casual breakfast of French toast, eggs and coffee at the Ladder 18/Battalion 4 firehouse. "I personally know over 100 people who were killed," said Gary Bulger, a 24-year veteran of the FDNY. "It means a lot that the men here know the President still thinks about this." Bush and First Lady Laura Bush talked with the firefighters before departing for a memorial service in Shanksville, Pa. "He thanked us for our service, and told us he's not giving up the fight," said Firefighter Steven Merenda of Ladder 18. "It's a shot in the arm in the sense that it's a morale boost for the company." A short time later, firefighters from Ladder 4/Engine 54 marched into St. Patrick's Cathedral, where they remembered the 15 Bravest who never returned after racing on 9/11 from their Hell's Kitchen firehouse. "It's a slow process, but we're healing," said Eileen Walsh, 64, the mother of fallen Firefighter Michael Brennan of Ladder 4. "I came here to pray for the firefighters who are still living, so they can go on doing what they're doing."
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