A NEW York City firefighter remembered by his wife as the "ultimate patriot" died near Baghdad when his army vehicle rolled over a bomb, killing him and wounding another of the city's bravest. [Article]
On the morning of Sept. 12, 2001, my Dad and I scoured my neighborhood for all the different newspapers we could find about Sept. 11. One of the first ones we bought contained a moving photo of firefighters securing a tattered American flag to a light pole as smoke billowed from the remains of the Trade Center in the background. It was in the NY Daily News, and while ultimately another flag-raising photo became more famous, it was a wonderful sight. After the horror of seeing the burning towers and living in the cloud of smoke and ash overnight, we were thrilled to see that, indeed, our flag was still there.
NOTE: I have the photo on my computer, but due to copyright issues, I am not posting the photo here. If you wish to see the photo, go to dailynewspix.com > Browse Galleries > New York's Bravest. You're looking for "64j00l0s.jpg." It should be the third photo that comes up. (Sorry, you can't search for that filename for some reason.)
The final chapter has come to an end for one of the heroic figures in that photo. Christian Engeldrum, of Ladder 61, was killed in Iraq this past week. Engeldrum leaves a pregnant wife and two teenage boys--one of whom turned 16 the day his father was killed.
On Monday, the courageous father was part of a convoy of Army National Guardsmen protecting a bridge from insurgents fleeing Fallujah when his unit came under attack and his Humvee rolled over a bomb.The explosion ripped the armored vehicle in two and hurtled the wounded soldiers on to the street. Three soldiers were killed and 16 more were seriously injured, including city firefighter Daniel Swift, 24.
Mr Swift's face was bloodied by shrapnel. A fragment lodged in his right eye, leaving him temporarily blinded, while his legs were peppered with scalding metal.
Despite his injuries, Mr Swift, the unit's medic, crawled over twisted debris and knelt next to his FDNY brother, nicknamed Drum, as Iraqi insurgents showered them with gunfire.
Mr Swift desperately tried to save Mr Engeldrum, but the 39-year-old sergeant did not survive the attack.
Mr Swift was flown to Germany for treatment, where he was expected to recover. He called his parents and fellow East Harlem firefighters at Ladder 43 yesterday just to hear "a friendly voice", his father said.
The bravery and dedication of soldiers like Mr Swift was what drew Mr Engeldrum, a five-year FDNY veteran who served at Ladder 61 in the Bronx, to Iraq, his widow said.
"He was the ultimate patriot, my husband," Sharon Engeldrum said through tears from the family's Bronx home.
"He loved his country, he loved the Fire Department. He was very brave.
"He went to the Gulf War and made it through that. He went through 9/11 and made it.
"He died doing something he believed in."
While the liberals try to tell us that Iraq is not part of the war on terror, New Yorkers know; they suffered through the paralyzing attack. I'm quite upset that there has been little--if any--national media attention. This is a big story, beautiful in its tragedy.
Engelbright's widow was at the Ladder 61 fire station when the department read a 5-5-5-5 message announcing his death in the line of duty. I heard dozens of those messages read on the FDNY radio in the year after 9-11. I can only imagine that Engelbright's widow was honored to hear the department's recognition of their fallen brother. But the FDNY story doesn't end there. [More]
Mayor Bloomberg is pushing a bill through the NY state government that will declare that Engelbright's death was a line of duty death as a member of the FDNY. The bill would entitle Engelbright's widow to a lifetime pension from the NYC government. [More]
Christian Engeldrum: a true American hero.
Posted by JRC at December 3, 2004 05:12 PM | TrackBack