Lieutenant
Charles Garbarini
Engine 23

MISSING

(AP) (NEW YORK) Nov 1, 2001 6:09 pm
The city's Police Memorial Wall, near the ruins of the World Trade Center, has become a shrine honoring the more than 400 cops and firefighters killed in the terrorist attacks.

The 4-year-old memorial, tucked away in Battery Park City, is etched with the names of all the city police officers killed in the line of duty.

Letters, poems and teddy bears line the walkways and the stark grey wall.

There are tributes, like the one to Kenneth Phelan, a fire department lieutenant. Phelan's smiling face is surrounded by 16 letters from relatives and friends.

Others, to anonymous victims, are equally heartfelt. “My father, the hero,” one letter starts.

Some letters are funny, like the poem dedicated to a fire lieutenant, which begins: “We're here to honor Charles Garbarini, whose humor's as dry as a good martini.”

The testimonials started accumulating just days after Sept. 11 and continue even now, more than seven weeks later.

They've been joined by 100 police badges left behind by the many police officers and firefighters from around the country who have come to the city to lend a hand.