Newsday – May 24, 2015
by TED PHILLIPS
First responders and military personnel paid tribute to slain NYPD Officer Brian Moore at a ceremony Saturday in Moore’s hometown of Massapequa.
About 500 people, including Moore’s family, attended the Memorial Day weekend event at the Towers of Freedom 9/11 Military Monument at John J. Burns Park.
The monument, dedicated last year, honors the sacrifices of those who rushed to the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, as well as those who’ve fought in wars overseas.
Rob Dephillips, an NYPD officer, said he came “for fallen brother Brian.” “I worked with him,” Dephillips said. “He was a great kid.”
New York City firefighter Ken Haskell, who spoke at the ceremony, praised the “special individuals who are willing to risk their lives for the sake of others.”
“It’s often been said it’s not a job but a calling, and it takes a unique caliber of person to do it, someone like . . . Brian Moore,” said Haskell, who is on the board of the nonprofit that established the monument in cooperation with Oyster Bay Town officials.
Moore, 25, was shot May 2 while on duty in Queens Village and died two days later; a suspect was arrested and charged. Thousands of police officers from around the country attended his funeral in Seaford. Moore was posthumously promoted to detective.
Speakers at the ceremony, now in its second year, also touched on how the military, police and firefighters are part of the fight against terrorism, whether in Afghanistan and Iraq, or the streets of New York.
Afterward, scores of people lined up to place carnations on the monument.
Richard Magee, 82, a Korean War Army veteran, said he came to show respect “for those who sacrificed their lives for what we have today — the freedom that we have here.”
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