BEACON (12 Sept 05) - Like so many New Yorkers and those who work in downtown NYC, sculptor David Frech remembers with clarity the tragic events of 9/11 and the loss that accompanied the collapse of the Twin Towers. When organizers from his childhood home of Palatine, IL, called to request a design for a firefighters’ memorial, Frech found a way of articulating so many of the feelings of that day and those that followed.

In the summer of 2003, Frech sought out the firefighters themselves and entered the local fire department of his current residence. He visited the City of Beacon, New York Fire Headquarters, Ladder Company 1. He was seeking first hand information in order to understand the firefighters from their own perspective. The men at the firehouse remember that day, Captain Chuck Pisanelli among them: “Dave said, ‘I want to use real firefighters. I want to honor you.’”

Not only did the Beacon firehouse supply models and a crash course in the tools and methods of the trade, they also confirmed what Frech felt most important in such a sculpture: not only to memorialize the fallen and their sacrifice, but to commemorate the commitment and skill of those dedicated to such an honorable profession.

Beacon Firefighter Mike Frederic admits, “Most firefighters I know are tired of the gloomy memorials that should be in cemeteries.”

But the cultural climate following 9/11 was looking for ways to represent the loss of life and the feelings of a larger public devastated.

“The guys clung to [Frech’s sculpture] because it wasn’t a typical memorial,” Firefighter Frederic adds. “It conveys brotherhood…the firefighter’s understanding that there’s work still to be done. We have to go forward. We still have work to do”

For Frech, the project gave him much more than a glimpse into the tools and task of another trade. “The firehouse in Beacon is mostly volunteer and yet you can’t imagine a more intense and ready commitment to the job than these guys have.”

Frech came to considerable national recognition with the unveiling of his Lincoln and Tad sculpture in Richmond, VA, commemorating Lincoln’s efforts at reconciliation after the Civil War. Among the many newspapers all over America reporting the event, The Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald both trumpeted the success of this home-grown artist: Frech had grown up in Palatine, a suburb of Chicago. Photos in the paper and Frech’s local connection caught the attention of organizers of a Palatine firefighter memorial who invited him to submit a proposal to their design contest.

“The project had immediate appeal to me: building something beautiful for my hometown and honoring firefighters, past and present.”

But part of the process of putting together proposals and reviewing them, is considering the different views or takes on a similar theme. The committee in Palatine ultimately decided on a sculpture based on a familiar illustration called “Prayer for my Brother”. The illustration shows a firefighter leaning over a helmet in the rubble of the World Trade Center. Captain Scott Ohlrich of Palatine cites solemn emotion as the selection’s most distinguishing feature: “The family members [of firefighters killed in service in Palatine] really picked up on that feeling of loss. The firefighters themselves [in the sculpture] are experiencing the emotion, the feeling of loss.” For Frech, however, his project, which he hopes will one day find a home in another community, feels a triumph, because it so immediately touches and inspires the firefighters.

In fact, inspiration, rallying present and future firefighters to the call, was the guiding principle when Frech designed the memorial. “A monument can do more than memorialize,” Frech reflects. “In the spirit of those who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice, it can inspire in us a resolve to cherish this life, to give our best, and respect those who serve. There should be a firefighter monument that illustrates that stirring sense of duty, that moment he commits himself to action.”

In the wake of 9/11, there was a renewed understanding of the inherent risks that firefighters and emergency personnel face. Everyday, in full knowledge of these risks, these men and women commit themselves to what many in the profession refer to as, “a calling”. The monuments to these often unsung heroes, remind us of their commitment and sacrifice; artists like Frech find ways of expressing these enduring virtues.

Dylan Stoermer,
Reproduced with permission by Sculptor David Frech

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