After the notes of “Amazing Grace” from a lone bagpiper faded away and uniformed firefighters had filed back to their duties Tuesday morning, retired Marine Alexander Madrigal stood for several emotional moments next a memorial statue.
The bronze sculpture honoring past, present and future firefighters sits in the center of a courtyard at the Orange County Fire Authority’s Irvine headquarters, where a remembrance ceremony was held Tuesday for the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as well as the police, firefighters and soldiers who served in their wake at home and abroad.