by Alex Lloyd Gross
In Philadelphia, there is an area called Franklin Square Park, right off of Race Street, at 6th Street. Inside, is a memorial to all of the firefighters and police that died. Yesterday, May 4,2022 Philadelphia honored 14 of them what passed since 2019. The ceremony, an annual event was not held for the past two years due to COVID.
Wreaths were placed at the memorial and then family members of the fallen were able to walk up and place flowers on the stones with thir loved ones names etched into them. It was a touching event. 
The event, which was attended by Governor Tom Wolf, and Mayor James Kenney . Wolf did not speak. It was Adam Thiel and Danielle Outlaw, who respectively spoke for their departments. It was Theil that reminded people that in addition to taking care of business in the city, his first responders also helped Florida with a collapse and also helped locals with flooding and hurricanes. “When I came up here I never thought we would have to deal with hurricanes,” He said during his remarks.
Outlaw is attending her first ceremony. “I am happy to attend and participate in this event,” she said. She called it a “Club that no one want to be a member of,” and she is right on point. To belong to this group, you have to have a family member that died. The names of the 14 that are honored this year are as follows:
- Sergeant James O’Connor
- Captain James Walker
- Sergeant Jos Novoa
- Officer Tab Ali
- Captain Frank Milillo
- Sergeant Joseph Youse
- Officer Erin Tokley
- Officer Vladimir Maleev
- Corporal Deborah Rosaria, of the Philadelphia Police Department
- Firefighter Michael Bernstein
- Firefighter Eric M. Gore
- Fireboat Pilot John Evans
- Lieutenant Charles Grover
- Lieutenant Terrence Gordon, of the Philadelphia Fire Department.
The ceremony was held on International Firefighters Day