Remarks of Senator Edward M. Kennedy Memorial Service for the Worcester Firemen

December 9, 1999

Today, our souls ache for the loss of James and Jeremiah, and Joseph and Paul, and Timothy and Thomas -- six good and decent men, strong men and magnificent public servants, who gave their lives unselfishly and courageously in the line of duty.

Every day, they accepted the peril of their jobs with unflinching hearts and unwavering spirits. They faced dangers on a daily basis that few of us can even imagine. Time and time again, they battled fires, rescued children, saved lives and returned to the firehouse with the quiet pride of knowing that they truly did make the difference. Now they have gone to God, and we gather here to celebrate their lives and mourn their loss.

In these agonizing days, we draw strength from the message of hope they left behind. On the honor roll of heroes, these six deserve the highest laurels. In our quest to teach our children about character, we can point to each of them -- their sacrifice, their commitment, their faith, their willingness to brave the odds.

Their work and their readiness to respond, at any hour of day or night, made them our watchmen on the walls. Each man who perished in this fire represented the best of firefighting in Massachusetts -- Headquarters Division, Ladder Company 2 and Engine Company 3 -- Central Division, Rescue Company 1 -- and the companies from West Boylston, Millbury, Leicester, Auburn, Shrewsbury, Holden, and elsewhere that have provided such unstinting support from the first moments of this tragedy. In these last difficult days, firefighters from Central, Eastern, and Western Massachusetts have made a hard, sad pilgrimage to Worcester to lend a strong shoulder and a helping hand, and they too have our deepest gratitude.

Those who were lost, and those who carry on, represent the proud legacy of Massachusetts firefighters -- the early leaders who in 1679 established the first paid fire department in the American colonies; Joseph Jencks, who invented the first fire engine in 1654; and the Worcester Fire Society, founded in 1793.

We, the people of Massachusetts, are proud of this history, and of the unsung heroes across the Commonwealth. But I also know that there are no words to mend the torn hearts of James and Joan, Kathleen, Mary, Linda, Denise, Michelle and their 17 children -- no way to remove the almost unbearable burden on the parents, brothers, sisters, all the family and all the friends of these lost men. I know how hard it is, how much you yearn to reach out and touch the living memories you can see so clearly before your eyes -- the smiles, the warmth, the Sunday dinners, the last movie you watched together, the last time you walked together on a summer night or swam together on a Cape Cod beach. I can tell you that their loss will always be with you, but the lives they led and the love they gave you will become a brighter, sustaining light for you as the weeks pass into months and years.

Amid the darkness that has settled over Worcester since Friday, we have seen an outpouring of love from others, from across Massachusetts -- the ribbons tied on fences, the posters hand lettered by children, the thousands of cards, the gentle words of compassion and comfort.

All of us, too, stand ready to help in every way we can. We are grateful to President Clinton and Vice-President Gore for being here, and for the ways in which they and Americans everywhere have helped to ease the pain. Today, the nation itself is crying out in grief. Tomorrow and tomorrow, so many of our fellow citizens, so many of them very far from here, young and old, countless individuals whose names you will never know, will pray with you and remember these six men who lived their lives for you and gave their lives for others.

In 1958, my father wrote a friend whose son had died. And since then that letter, read and reread, has helped our family endure through the difficult times. Fourteen years before, my oldest brother Joe had been killed in World War II, and my dad referred to that when he wrote his grieving friend:

"When one of your loved ones goes out of your life, you think of what he might have done with a few more years, and you wonder what you are going to do with the rest of yours. Then one day, because there is a world to be lived in, you find yourself a part of it, trying to accomplish something -- something he did not have time enough to do. And, perhaps, that is the reason for it all. I hope so."

That is my hope here in Worcester today.

I wish that loved ones did not have to die too young. I wish that none were lost in the high noontime of their lives. I wish that tragedy never haunted a single soul. But I know that sometimes life breaks your heart. And I believe we best honor those who have been lost, we best honor these brave men, when we pledge that they will always be in our hearts -- and their example will never die.

Too often, it is only in their deaths that we pause to think of how intrepidly they have lived. There is a poem, a firefighter's poem entitled "May They Not Be Forgotten," which lets these six lost men of Worcester speak to us today:

"Brother when you weep for me, Remember that it was meant to be. Lay me down and when you leave, Remember I'll be at your sleeve. In every dark and choking hall, I'll be there as you slowly crawl. On every roof in driving snow, I'll hold your coat and you will know. In cellars hot with searing heat, At windows where a gate you meet, In closets where young children hide, You know I'll be there at your side. The house from which I now respond Is overstaffed with heroes gone. Men who answered one last bell Did the job and did it well. As firemen, we understand That death's a card dealt in our hand -- A card we hope we never play, But one we hold there anyway. That card is something we ignore, As we crawl across a weakened floor. For we know that we're the only prayer For anyone that might be there. So remember, as you wipe your tears, The joy I knew throughout the years, As I did the job I loved to do. I pray that thought will see you through."

They did the job they loved to do, and now we must pray that memory will see us through.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy

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