Elected officers and relations who misplaced family members in the course of the September 11, 2001 terrorist assault joined the New York Metropolis Hearth Division (FDNY’s) historic Black Vulcan Society at their annual memorial backyard service in Brooklyn final week.
On that day, 343 New York Metropolis firefighters died, 12 of them had been Black. They had been listed as: Gerard Baptiste, Capt. Vernon Cherry, Tarel Coleman, Andre Fletcher, Keith Glascoe, Ronnie Henderson, William Henry, Karl Henri Joseph, Keithroy Maynard, Vernon Richard, Shawn Powell, and Leon Smith Jr.
“Might their legacy of bravery encourage future generations of firefighters and residents alike,” mentioned FDNY Hearth Chaplain Dr. Rev. V. Simpson Turner Jr. “As we bear in mind the lives misplaced, allow us to recommit ourselves to dwelling with the identical braveness, religion, and love that outlined these twelve and the 343.”
On the First Quincy Neighborhood Backyard in Bedstuy, the Black Vulcans and relations learn the names of every of the fallen firefighters whereas they positioned roses on the backyard’s monument in remembrance and solidarity. The remainder of the ceremony was held beneath a tent within the blocked-off avenue in entrance of the backyard.
“From the second we take the oath to serve, ‘always remember,’ turns into who we’re as firefighters. It’s each a promise and a accountability that we’ll at all times honor those that made the final word sacrifice,” mentioned FDNY President of the Vulcan Society Jonathan Logan.
“This can be a very solemn event. I used to be down on the 9/11 [site] 24 years in the past, and I nearly didn’t make it to be with you right here right this moment. I’m grateful for this,” mentioned FDNY Assistant Deputy Commissioner of Exterior Partnerships James “Jim” Harding.
The occasion was attended by elected officers like New York State Legal professional Normal Letitia James; Assemblymembers Latrice Walker and Stefani Zinerman; Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
“For the lives that we misplaced, understanding to be Black and to be a firefighter, to be Black and be in these areas the place you possibly can’t be too completely happy or unhappy, can’t be too offended, though you’re being handled and seen in a different way,” mentioned Williams. “Their recollections and legacies broaden to this point, and I can’t think about what the households needed to undergo.”
“We stand with you right this moment as you honor this solemn day in remembrance. Not just for New Yorkers, however folks around the globe who love freedom. As a result of on the finish of the day, we acknowledge that at the present time is about freedoms,” mentioned Walker. “What we discovered is that freedom is just not free.”
Moreover, the Vulcan Society mourned the lack of retired firefighter Elbert Washington, who handed away on August 28, 2025.
Washington joined the FDNY in 1973. He served with distinction in a few of the metropolis’s busiest fireplace firms, together with Engine 290, Squad Firm One, and Rescue 2. He was the previous president of the Vulcan Society and was one of many FDNY’s most adorned Black firefighters till his retirement in 1999.
Washington was honored with the Captain Denis W. Lane medal for rescuing an off-duty police officer from a fireplace, together with receiving numerous citations for different heroic acts of braveness, mentioned the Vulcan Society.
“The Vulcan Society extends heartfelt condolences to the Washington household,” mentioned Logan, in a press release. “Elbert Washington was, and can stay, a beacon — of honor, of progress, of hope. His footsteps information us nonetheless.”
His funeral providers had been held at Better St. Stephen United Church of God in Brooklyn on Monday, September 15, 2025.
