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by Shazia Khan
They stood side by side in brotherhood at a firehouse in Brooklyn Saturday, with families and friends close by. First there was a moment of silence, then the unveiling of a permanent granite memorial to honor firefighters killed in the attacks of September 11, 2001.
“There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about my father,” said firefighter Brian Cross, the son of Battalion Chief Dennis Cross, who died in the attacks. “Every day he's always on my thoughts, but on 9/11 is the hardest time.”
Etched in stone and on the minds of many were the faces of Battalion Chief Cross, Lieutenant Steven Bates and Firefighters Lawrence Veling, Nicholas Chiafalo, Francis Esposito and Lee Fehling of Engine Company 235/Batallion 57, located on Monroe Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant. These fallen legends, as the company likes to have them remembered, are affectionately called the Monroe Six.
“The memory must be carried on, and this is one of the ways to do it,” said current Battalion Chief Roderick O’Connor.
“They'll never be forgotten as long as this stone is alongside this firehouse,” said Captain Vincent Ungaro. “Their spirit and their memories will be with us.”
The remains of only two of the six fallen firefighters were found.
Firefighter Philip Scarfi drove his comrades down to Lower Manhattan three years ago. “You never want to think about not coming back with one guy, let alone without six,” he said. “They went in. They did their jobs. Unfortunately, they lost their lives. But they never looked back.”
Saturday’s dramatic tribute was made possible by JoAnn Cross, the widow of Battalion Chief Dennis Cross. She raised the money through donations and an annual run organized in memory of her husband.
“My husband always looked at the firehouse as his second home, and I wanted to really leave an imprint of his spirit and his image at the firehouse,” said Mrs. Cross.
Although the memorial was of course marked with somber faces and tears, there were also plenty of smiles
“I didn't want to make it a dreary day, because for the children and all it's not good,” Mrs. Cross said. “You have to remember them now in a wonderful happy town.”
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