Madison Square Garden, 4 Pennsylvania Plaza

I traveled back to NYC to be part of the New York City Fire Department Memorial Day Service being held at Madison Square Garden. This was a formal dress attire that firefighters from around the world attended, over 30,000 in attendance. I was fortunate enough to get a ticket to go inside. There was a private area where I put a section of the banner for all to sign. I also put a stack of poster for all to take.

New York City firefighters paid homage Saturday to their colleagues killed in the line of duty — 343 who died in the September 11 attacks, and 13 others. All off-duty firefighters were expected to participate in the event at Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden. Organizers predicted it would be the largest memorial to date.

The FDNY Emerald Society Pipe Band led the procession through the rain along a mile-long route up Eighth Avenue from 14th Street to Madison Square Garden at 33rd Street. An honor guard of 356 visiting firefighters carried American flags — one for each person being remembered. An antique FDNY hose wagon was in the procession.

The names of the dead were read — and families were to receive medals of remembrance — in a solemn three-hour service that featured pictures of most of the lost firefighters. New York City Firefighters stood in formation Saturday at the start of the memorial.

Speakers included Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Gov. George Pataki and Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta. Irish tenor Ronan Tynan was among the singers.