Three New York firefighters raise Old Glory over the rubble of the World Trade Center.  The dramatic moment is captured from afar by a photographer.  Within a day or two, the photo is featured in newspapers across the United States.  It becomes as recognizable as the Marine flag-raising on Mt. Suribachi.  T-shirts soon appear with the two images juxtaposed.  A New York real-estate developer commissions an artist to replicate the event in a monument to be erected on the grounds of the New York fire-department headquarters.  All are ecstatic.

Then we are told that the actual event will not replicated, that there is a problem with the flag-raising: The three firefighters are white.  Thus, for the statue, one of the whites will be transformed into a black and another into a Latino.  The news of the change spreads like wildfire and becomes a topic for radio talk shows.  A fireman initiates a protest and petition drive that mobilizes thousands in New York and beyond.  For the time being, the erection of the monument is suspended.

This episode reveals all too much about life in America at the beginning of the 21st century: False symbols are replacing reality, and history be damned, as long as we are talking about whites and Western civilization.  Usually, whites roll over and play dead for fear of being called “racists.”  This case was different, though, and I suspect that is because of the strong Irish identity of many of the firemen.  Of the 10,000 firefighters in the New York Fire Department, more than 4,000 are Irish.  Two of the three firemen who raised the flag are Irish.  Of the 343 firefighters who died on September 11, 150 (or 44 percent) were Irish.  The scroll of those who died reads like a clan map of Ireland: Barry, Boyle, Brennan, and Byrne; Devlin, Donnelly, Downey, and Duffy; Fanning, Farrelly, Feehan, and Foley; Garvey, Geraghty, Giberson, and Ginley; Halloran, Healey, Hickey, and Holohan; Keating, Kelly, Kennedy, and Kerwin; McAvoy, McHugh, McMahon, and McSweeney; Maloney, Mullen, Mulligan, and Murphy; O’Callaghan, O’Hagan, O’Keefe, and O’Rourke; Regan, Reilly, Rogan, and Ryan; and a hundred more from Ahearn to Whelan.

It is not an accident, then, that the firefighter who initiated the protest against the politically correct but historically perverted statue is Stephen Cassidy.  Nor is it a coincidence that the fire captain at Engine Co. 236 in Brooklyn who supported Cassidy’s efforts is Kevin McCabe.  Cassidy told me, “I was shocked that the statue would not accurately reflect the real event.  A world-famous photograph which captured a great, patriot moment is somehow lacking.  Nearly all my fellow firefighters are angry, and many are outraged.”  John Finucane, a retired lieutenant from Engine Co. 85, Lad. 59 in the South Bronx and the political-education coordinator for the Emerald Society, is one of those outraged.  “This is like the English version of Irish history,” Finucane told me.  “American children will see a lie.  The children and grandchildren of firefighters will see a false image.”  He emphasized that firefighters themselves, the men in the ranks, have to take action because the politicians at the top have self-serving agendas and lack the courage to confront political correctness.

There is now talk about a generic monument depicting firefighters of all races picking through the rubble of the WTC.  That would certainly be dramatic!  For the record, only 12 (or three percent) of the firemen who died on September 11 were black, and only another 12, Latino.  Will the generic statue represent 94 percent of the men as white, or will it have a politically correct but grossly misrepresentative 33.3 percent?  I don’t think generic whites will have much to say about this, but the firefighters might, especially Irish firemen who are unwilling to acquiesce to the false reality of the New Order.  John Finucane has sent a letter on behalf of the Emerald Society to the committee responsible for the proposed monument requesting that the Emeralds be included in the decision-making process.  That only seems fair, since nearly half of those firefighters who died on September 11 were members of the society.  The English are fond of saying that the Irish remember too much history.  “The Ballad of Mike Moran” suggests that they do, at least, remember.  The rousing and poignant song, written by Doug Cogan and Chris Storc, was inspired by firefighter Mike Moran, who paid tribute to his fallen brother, Battalion Chief John Moran, at a fundraising event and ended his remarks with a special salutation to Osama bin Laden.

I am Irish and was proud to serve with other firemen,

Who gave their lives for us that day, each one of them a friend,

In remembrance of my brothers who from earthly bonds did pass,

Osama, step right up and kiss my royal Irish ass.

 

They’re the bravest men I’ve known and I’ll miss them every day,

I will keep them in my heart, so they’re never far away.  .  .  .

Ah, those Paddies remember too much.  Let’s hope that all Americans remember too much and that they do not allow their history to be distorted and misrepresented for the sake of political correctness.  The Soviet Union manufactured history to serve its contemporary political and social agendas.  To a lesser degree, we have begun to go down that same twisted road.  It would be a delicious twist if it were New York firefighters—and others like them—who put us on the right road once again.