Bagpipe Brothers: The FDNY Band's True Story of Tragedy, Mourning, and Recovery
After the 9/11 World Trade Center terrorist attacks, New York City's Emerald Society Bagpipe Band of firefighter-musicians took out their instruments and prepared to bury their dead-343 brothers in duty and in blood. Many firefighters alternated between playing their instruments at funerals and digging for the missing in the rubble of Ground Zero. The Irish American tradition of funeral bagpiping became the sound of mourning for an entire nation.\ Bagpipe Brothers tells the unforgettable...
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"I applaud Kerry Sheridan for a huge effort to bring the story of the pipers and drummers of the FDNY to national notice. These men made a decision on 9/11 when they lost one of their own to dedicate their lives to bringing honor and glory and memory to the most fateful time in Fire Department history. The world should know this story, for the band has left a legacy of love that can never be surpassed."-Dennis Smith, author, "Report from Ground Zero.""This is a story of unfathomable heroism and Sheridan deftly delivers it with both a journalist's hand and a great deal of heart. Read Bagpipe Brothers and see if you can keep yourself from crying the next time you hear the pipes calling."-Brian V. McDonald, author of My Father's Gun. One Family, Three Badges, One Hundred Years in the NYPD."You don't have to be Irish to have your heart tugged by the wail of the bagpipes. After reading Kerry Sheridan's wonderfully reported and beautifully written book, I will never hear that sweet and sad sound quite the same again.-Ari L. Goldman, author The Search for God at Harvard and Living a Year of KaddishAfter the 9/11 World Trade Center terrorist attacks, an Irish American tradition of funeral bagpiping came to symbolize the sounds of mourning for an entire nation. Among the dead were 343 firefighters--some of their bodies were found and some were not. In the months following the attacks, New York City's Emerald Society Bagpipe Band of firefighter-musicians took out their instruments and prepared to bury their dead--brothers in duty and in blood. Many firefighters alternated between playing their instruments at funerals and digging for the missing in the rubble of Ground Zero. BagpipeBrothers tells the story of four unforgettable firefighters in the band, all of whom represent the larger stories of mourning and recovery that the nation experienced in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. In addition to the losses throughout the Fire Department, the bagpipe band lost one of its own, a beloved drummer, and also lost the respected brother of a member. The firefighters' stories include searching for the dead, struggling to bring peace to their families and themselves, coping with the endless round of funerals, and rethinking the meaning of faith. It is a moving experience to see this group of very strong men deal with unimaginable grief. Kerry Sheridan has written the first book to cover the ordeal of the massive number of funerals, the importance of recovering bodies in Irish American culture, and the bagpiping ritual, both traditional and modern.Kerry Sheridan was born and raised in an Irish American family in upstate New York. She has written for the San Francisco Chronicle and Irish American newspapers in New York and California. She has a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University, and lives in Brooklyn, New York. Library Journal Journalist Sheridan recounts with startling immediacy the events following the 9/11 terrorist attacks as they affected the Fire Department of New York's pipe and drum band. After setting the stage with the development of the Irish American bands since the early 1960s, providing some insight into firehouse culture and discussing several other fires, she weaves together the stories of disparate families and friends as they coped with the devastation of the 343 firefighters lost at the World Trade Center. The firefighters in the band were overextended as they played for as many as 19 memorial services in one day, all the while working at the recovery site and serving as surrogate parents to their fallen comrades' children or comforters to the widows. Sheridan's terse phrasing reflects her profession, and her own Irish background betrays a deep affection for the plight of those she is privileged to interview. The raw emotions and suspense fully involve the reader in this harrowing tale. Recommended for all libraries to sit alongside Dennis Smith's Report from Ground Zero and David Halberstam's Firehouse as a testament to the resilience and humanity of these brave souls. It will especially interest libraries in the New York area or collections on firefighting or bagpipe bands.-Barry Zaslow, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
AcknowledgmentsIXPrologue1Introduction: A Brief History of Bagpiping and the Irish Traditions of the New York City Fire Department31Irish Fair202The Brunton Brothers413September 11504Dawning of the Day755The Funerals886Discovery1217Laying to Rest1388Thanksgiving1529End of the Line16210Holiday18111Home Turf19612Lost Celebrations20113Closing Ground Zero218Epilogue241Notes245
\ Library JournalJournalist Sheridan recounts with startling immediacy the events following the 9/11 terrorist attacks as they affected the Fire Department of New York's pipe and drum band. After setting the stage with the development of the Irish American bands since the early 1960s, providing some insight into firehouse culture and discussing several other fires, she weaves together the stories of disparate families and friends as they coped with the devastation of the 343 firefighters lost at the World Trade Center. The firefighters in the band were overextended as they played for as many as 19 memorial services in one day, all the while working at the recovery site and serving as surrogate parents to their fallen comrades' children or comforters to the widows. Sheridan's terse phrasing reflects her profession, and her own Irish background betrays a deep affection for the plight of those she is privileged to interview. The raw emotions and suspense fully involve the reader in this harrowing tale. Recommended for all libraries to sit alongside Dennis Smith's Report from Ground Zero and David Halberstam's Firehouse as a testament to the resilience and humanity of these brave souls. It will especially interest libraries in the New York area or collections on firefighting or bagpipe bands.-Barry Zaslow, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.\ \
