Sykesville Juniors Make NYC Pilgrimage

The junior firefighters of the Sykesville-Freedom District Fire Department recently traveled to New York City to pay respects at Ground Zero of the World Trade Center and to visit several city firehouses.

The juniors traveled to the home of FDNY Rescue 1 in Manhattan, arguably the most famous rescue company in the world. While there, the juniors were able to tour the cramped quarters and the rescue unit itself, which replaces a unit destroyed on September 11.

The juniors also went to the Duane Street station of Engine 7 and Tower Ladder 1. This is the house featured in the CBS documentary "9/11", which amazingly lost no members on September 11, despite being just blocks from the WTC site.

The juniors also visited the home of Ladder 15, Engine 4 and Engine 6 near the Brooklyn Bridge. The firefighters from all the stations visited were more than kind in their hospitality and friendliness.

Also on the tour, was the FDNY Museum, which houses artifacts and equipment from the earliest days of the department. The Museum also has many artifacts from the September 11 tragedy, and brought a sobering reality to the visiting juniors.

The highlight of the New York trip was the visit to the site of the World Trade Center, Ground Zero. Few reminders of that horrible day are left, save for a giant hole where the Twin Towers once stood. Ground Zero is now an active construction site, where subway lines and PATH train lines are being rebuilt, and where the 1,776 foot Freedom Tower will one day rise above the Manhattan skyline. Two of the notable sites at Ground Zero: The 10-10 house, home of Engine and Ladder 10; and a cross fashioned from the steel girders of the World Trade Center.

No trip to New York would be complete without a look at Lady Liberty. The Sykesville juniors stood at the tip of Manhattan in Battery Park to gaze across the water at the Statue of Liberty. No doubt the image will remain etched in many minds.

Thanks to all of the parents, chaperones and firefighters who made the trip possible, and to make it a safe and meaningful experience. And a special thanks to New York's Bravest for opening the doors of their houses.