Stoneham Firefighters to Attend 9/11 Memorial Service

9/11. The day America was thrust into a new era. Nobody has more informed or important memories of the terrorist attacks than the Stoneham firefighters.

On the 10^th anniversary of 9/11, to honor the 2,819 firefighters that perished in the collapse of the Twin Towers and in the struggle to save those that were trapped in the rubble, six firefighters from the will make a trip to New York City and stand alongside their brethren from NYC and all over the country at an uptown ceremony honoring the dead.

The Stoneham firefighters making the trek to NYC include Scott Greenleaf, Mike Labriola, Dan Kelleher, Mark Chabak, Charles Webber and Paul Sodergren.

Kelleher explained the simplicity, yet honest dedication, behind this bond between firefighters when he said, “We're going to just show support for the 10th anniversary, all the guys that were lost, that's the only thing that matters.”

When asked how they felt and what they remember from that fateful day, Greenleaf, who was with the department during the attacks, said, “It was one of those things you never forget, where you were, what you were doing, I was at home with my family, and then it all came on the news. I had no idea how they'd fight that first fire after the plane hit, that's what I was thinking about. Then, the second plane hit and I knew it wasn't so simple.”

Greenleaf responded to NYC's call for more personnel in the weeks that followed 9/11. Just a few days after the attacks, Greenleaf was at Ground Zero pitching in as part of a Critical Incident Stress Team, helping departments who had lost men deal with the emotional trauma.

Talking about what the Stoneham crew thought changed after 9/11, Labriola summed up the feeling most Americans experienced immediately following the attacks when he mentioned, “I feel like everything has changed since the attacks.”

“Fire safety for firefighters was a big issue around 9/11, more safety, more firefighters,” Greenleaf said. “Unfortunately, it takes something of that magnitude to have something like this happen, the support, the patriotism. But now, years later, it doesn't get that much attention because time has passed […] A lot of stuff was supposed to change, but didn't.”

Discussing the current climate in America in contrast to the patriotic outpouring after 9/11, Greenleaf said, “The problems we are in now all stem from 9/11. We could use some of that patriotism now to solve our current problems.”

For Greenleaf and the five other brave men who are dedicating their September 11 to the memory of those that were lost in the attacks, patriotism, safety and brotherhood will guide them on their journey to remember those unknown comrades that died in the line of duty.