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Thomas McCann Firefighter Gresham Fire and Emergency Services Gresham, Oregon
Come on Home We'll Leave the Light on for You"... These few words on the wall outside Engine Company 65's firehouse on W. 43rd Street in midtown Manhattan reflect both the sadness of a brother firefighter's apparent loss and the ongoing hope that he might just walk back in the door at any time. Tom is Firefighter Thomas McCann, and he is one of The 343 -- those brave souls of the Fire Department of New York who disappeared into the horror that was the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, and have not yet returned to quarters, or who have already done so in eternal rest. I, too am a firefighter, and I am also Thomas McCann. Although I never met this man with whom I share a name, I now know of him, and I understand his motivation, and how it turned him and his brother and sister firefighters into heroes. I have spent all or part of the last 31 years as a volunteer firefighter, and I understand what it is like to enter a building that everyone else is leaving. I have seen the grief on the face of people who have lost loved ones, and I have attended firefighter funerals. I have shared the friendship and camaraderie of firefighters at departments in New York, Pennsylvania and Oregon during these years. I am also a volunteer with the American Red Cross, and my service to them brought me to New York twice since Sept. 11. On each assignment I took the opportunity to visit the fire stations of my FDNY brethren. Their stories and sentiments touched me deeply, but none so much as when I walked to Engine 65's house on Dec. 17 to meet some of those who served with Tom. I met them as as they were returning from a call in the Times Square area. They were genuinely surprised to meet someone who not only shared the name of their friend but also shared their profession. They invited me in for coffee and we shared stories of our departments and the challenges we had faced and met, a continent apart but as familiar as though we had faced them together. Before I left, I placed two items on their memorial inside the engine bay -- a pair of my name tags. One is from the Gresham, Oregon Fire and Emergency Services, and reads "Firefighter Tom McCann". The other is an American Red Cross disaster relief badge that reads "Thomas McCann". I could not think of a more appropriate way to honor this man than to leave a part of me that shows the name that we share. As I continue my service as a firefighter and as a disaster responder, I shall often think of my time in New York -- a time in which I was truly honored to walk and work among heroes. An although we may never meet, I will think of Tom McCann and perhaps think of how William Shakespeare said it... "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers, for he that sheds his blood with me today is my brother" You shed your blood for us, Tom, you and your friends, and that truly makes you my brother. Life Member Collegeville Fire Company #1 Collegeville, Pennsylvania

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