KINSALE, Ireland — Three days and 225 miles later, a group of nearly 100 active and retired firefighters from New York and Ireland will ride bicycles to a memorial garden on Wednesday to remember the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
After setting off from the US ambassador’s Dublin residence on Monday, the brave group cycled across Ireland’s rolling, lush hills, stopping at 17 fire stations and a string of pubs along the way.
On Wednesday, their journey will end at Ringfinnan Garden in south-west County Cork, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, which was created by an Irish nurse who treated victims on that fateful day.
The action is part of the campaign to raise funds for the victims and those who are still suffering from their injuries and the consequences of their work at Ground Zero.
“We lost 343 firefighters in an instant,” one of the cyclists, Michael Schreiber, told NBC News on Monday, adding that 370 people have died since September 11.
Schreiber, a health and safety officer for the Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York, said there have been several funerals this week alone for firefighters “who died from 9/11-related illnesses.”
“It never ends,” said the 53-year-old, adding that it was the first time he was not in New York on the anniversary of September 11.
Fellow cyclist Danny Sheridan, a battalion chief in the New York Fire Department, said that as a third-generation Irish-American, he has a “strong connection” to the Emerald Isle.
The New York City Fire Department veteran, who has raised nearly $150,000 with his fellow cyclists, was at Ground Zero 23 years ago and said “it was just a memory” as he rode his bike. “I lost so many friends that day, and I’m still losing people,” he said.
Fellow countryman Danny Manning, 71, said he became emotional when he entered the garden, “especially when he saw some of the guys.”
“Of course it brings back memories and a few tears,” said Manning, who is not taking part in the ride but is there to support his mates. “But like anything, I think sometimes you look away and think about the good times and some of those memories bring a smile to your face despite the tears.”
Manning said he watched live television on “that godforsaken day” 23 years ago as United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the south tower of New York’s World Trade Center, just moments after his wife, Mary Ellen, “screamed” when she heard the news that American Airlines Flight 11 had crashed into the north tower.
“I started getting dressed and put on my firefighter shirt,” he said, adding that he flagged down an emergency vehicle that took him to the scene of the accident.
“The clouds turned from a beautiful sky to no sky,” he said. Shortly afterwards, he added, “I looked to my right and saw the tower collapse.”
Manning, who said he worked for 23 years as a firefighter with Ladder Company 43 in East Harlem, said friends and colleagues were among the 2,977 people killed by al-Qaeda members in the deadliest terrorist attack in history.
