Firefighter David Arce
Engine
33
Laid to Rest on
April 19, 2002
When
Margaret Arce opened up her son's apartment in Stuyvesant Town, she found remnants
of his generosity, letters to Santa Claus from poor children.
David
Arce, a firefighter, would answer them by delivering wished-for toys, year after
year.
"He
has always been like that, always bringing home stray cats, stray dogs, stray
kids," she said. "Growing up, it was the same thing; he was always bringing
someone home to me who needed a meal, or who needed a coat."
On
Sept. 11, he jumped on the fire truck, Engine Company 33, on Great Jones Street,
even though his shift had ended.
She
described her son, 36, as a bit of a fatalist. "He always had this belief
that destiny was waiting there," she said.
Firefighter
Arce, whose nickname was Buddha, was an enthusiastic fan of Joseph Campbell and
would have long discussions at the firehouse about the writer's research into
myth and religion. "I think what resonated was the overall belief that in
the bottom line, everybody's religion is the same," she said. "Everybody
is the same. It just comes down to one being. No matter who you are and what you
are, we're all underneath the same sky."
Legacy.com
Article
CNN
Tributes
Newsday
Article
Back
To Firefighter Index