A 9/11 Uniform Patch That Traveled Around the World

Belgian Firefighter "Bob"

Meet Bob, a firefighter from Belgium. Although, I have recently been corrected to refer to Bob as a "Belgian Firefighter." Bob supports his brother firefighters by wearing the 9/11 Patch on his Class-A uniform--a purchase he made nearly 10 years ago after the tragic events of 9/11.

No politics--no cultural differences--no boundaries, just a firefighter honoring the loss of hundreds of FDNY firefighters many thousands of miles away. Even though the patch bears the image of our U.S. Flag, he wears this patch from another country right on the front of his uniform.

Bob is not alone. Even today, nearly 10 years later, orders from Belgium come into the 9/11 Patch Project regularly. And Belgium is not alone, as orders from Germany, Sweden, Japan, China, Italy, Malta, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries continue to come in as firefighters and citizens alike, from these other countries, want to show their support for the lost heroes of 9/11. 

Italian Father and Son Firefighters

Ten years later, the 9/11 Patch Project reflects on the work the project has done. You see, it's been about more than just a patch. It's been about bringing both public safety and citizens from all countries back together--it's been about unity. The patch traveled around the world and has shown up on uniforms everywhere--making this project the largest and farthest reaching 9/11 Project in the world.

No back slapping and celebrating here; whether it's one of the 4 patches, decals, pins or flags, that people wear or display, it sends a clear message to folks around the world: We are united, strong, tenacious, enduring...WE ARE ONE!

With Bin Laden dead and forever lost at sea, we can move forward this 10th Anniversary of 9/11/01. We will still not forget the brave sacrifice our heroes made nearly 10 year ago but the patches, decals, pins and flags sends a message to the world that despite the time that's passed--the resiliency of our nations--WE WILL TRULY NEVER FORGET those that perished at the will of the most hated evil doer in the world.

So do you have your patch? Does your organization wear it already? There's no sunset to this project--remembering is forever. So pick your patch or decal up now and be counted.

Got Bus—A Uniform Patch—And 20 thousand Miles of Open Road

The 40-ton bus is on fire! It barrels down the open highway but no smoke can be seen billowing from its monstrous orange-red body. Look a little closer and you’ll see that it is actually wrapped with photographed fire scenes—well known structure fires that have occurred over the years in major U.S. cities. On the side of the bus in gigantic letters is the URL, FIRECAREERS.COM. look in your rear view mirror as you see the bus gaining on you and you’ll see a giant American Flag on the hood. It’s not an ordinary flag—it’s the iconic image of the 9/11 We Will Never Forget patch. Towards the bottom of the graphic you’ll see the WTC skyline with the silhouette of a firefighter holding an axe—rising above the Twin Towers. Just over the head of the firefighter is the date September 11, 2001. And at the bottom of the gold-bordered design, are the words WE WILL NEVER FORGET.

The bus is driven by retired Fire Captain Craig Freeman with his wife, Pam, navigating and constantly communicating with those hosting the next tour stop of the 10 Year 9/11 Manhattan to Manhattan Tour—a tour that left Manhattan Beach Fire Department in California with the goal of reaching Manhattan, New York, before 9/11/11. The tour is a joint effort with the 9/11 Patch Project to spread awareness of the 10 Year mark of 9/11 and raise donations through the sale of the 9/11 patches, decals, pins and flags. The fund raising mission will benefit the FDNY Bravest Scholarship Fund, Terry Farrell Fund and the Feal Good Foundation—all New York based non-profits.

Three months prior to the FareCareers.com departure Craig met up with Brett Hill, founder of the 9/11 Patch Project, who was in a bit of a quandary. Brett had really wanted to host the West Coast 9/11/11 event but couldn’t find a venue or enough supporters to raise the 10’s of thousands necessary to make this happen. With Craig taking his company on the road for 9 months, it made sense to combine efforts and take the 10 Year Anniversary of 9/11 to communities across the nation. With the future of their company at risk, Craig and Pam still offered to make it happen.

The 9/11 Patch Project—is a project created 3 months after 9/11 with the goals of manufacturing and distributing special 9/11 uniform tribute patches for all Fire, Emt, Police and U.S. Military uniforms. The project was also designed to raise funds for the families of those lost on 9/11 and create unity among all emergency and military personnel. Over the past 9 years, the project grew to involve the participation of over 7,000 organizations in 22 countries. The 9/11 Patches can be seen on thousands of U.S. Firefighter uniforms, on the uniforms of foreign firefighters and on 1000’s of deployed U.S. troop military clothing—including our U.S. Navy SEAL’s.

“Don’t miss the bus,” has become the tour’s special saying as they roll though one horse towns, major cities and critical weather impacted areas. Space on the both sides of the bus enables people, companies and organizations to ride along with the tour. Getting their 1 foot enlarged logos and 2” lettering on the side of the bus gives advertisers/sponsors high visibility while helping fund the 20,000 mile journey with an average fuel cost of $1 per mile.

What makes this journey suddenly more incredible for Craig Pam and Brett, is the death of Osama Bin Laden at the hands of the 9/11 Patch wearing U.S. navy SEAL’s. This anniversary of 9/11 will not be like the others—the man behind the most heartless and tragic attacks on American Citizens, is gone forever and will no longer share the spotlight with the innocent American’s he killed, nearly 10 years ago. It is a special 9/11 anniversary this year—one that FireCarrrers.com and the 9/11 Patch Project is proud to share with fellow Americans across this beautiful and Osama-terror-free land.

Who's Wearing the 9/11 Patches

I was recently browsing the Internet to find some of the early adopters of the Original 9/11 Patch and I found this picture of Chief Mike Steh of the Herrin Fire Department in Illinois.

Chief Steh represents a fire department that first purchased the 9/11 Patches for their members back in March of 2002. For nearly 10-years, they have supported this project and made a pledge to never forget! Most important, they wear their hearts on their sleeves and share common threads with nearly 4000 other fire departments across the U.S.

With the 10 Year 9/11 Anniversary upon us, the 9/11 Patch Project is currently touring the nation with Fire Careers to spread awareness of the 10 year mark of 9/11, recruit other organizations to wear the patch and raise funds for the FDNY Bravest Scholarship Fund, Terry Farrell Fund and the Feal Good Foundation.All the net funds from the sale of any of the 9/11 Patches, decals and pins, will be donated along with other cash donations to the funds above. Please have a look at the schedule of the tour at the Fire Careers link above and contact Craig Freeman  if you think you can host a tour-stop. Keeping in mind it costs about $1 a mile to move the bus, we'd appreciate it if you can bring a good size crowd out!

We also encourage your organization to get on the bus with us though a sponsorship. The sponsorships range from getting your name in the reflective stripe that circles the entire bus to getting a 12" logo of your company on the side of the bus. This will help raise funds and contribute to the cost of fuel for the trip that is estimated at $20,000.

For those of you with a tighter budget, you can donate a much smaller amount and get on the 9/11 Patch Projects 9/11 WALL. It only costs $9.11 to get your name on the WALL.

Thanks to all the supporters out there that have helped us keep this project going strong the past 10 Years!

Get Your 9/11 Patches & Decals Before the Rush

Order the 9/11 Patches and decals for your organization before the summer rush. Every year, in the few months leading up to the anniversary of 9/11, many rush to order their patches and decals and it overwhelms the project. Last year, 450 orders came in from August 11 to September 11. With only a couple of us filling orders, it translated into some delays for those who purchased the patches and decals at the last minute. Many emailed or called asking where their patches were; within just a few days of ordering. Still, we managed to get 98% of orders to people prior to 9/11/10. I personally spent my entire summer processing orders. And most of the funds from orders went to pay the vendor bill left to us when Melissa Powell of "Keep Our Heroes safe," didn't pay her 5000 patch bill. So if you are going to make a large order for your organization, we will get it done but will need to receive payment prior--thanks to Melissa!

It is the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 and a very significant milestone for the 9/11 Patch Project that began its' efforts in December of 2001. As many of you know, there are over 6000 organizations represented (wearing on of the patches or displaying one of the decals) in 22 countries.

With the 10 Year 9/11 Anniversary Manhattan to Manhattan Tour well underway, patches and decals have been nearly sold out at every hosted tour stop. Donations have been given at every stop as well, so our entire fund raising mission is going very well!

Craig and Pam of FireCareers have done an incredible job driving thousands of miles all over the U.S. to be at these great hosted tour stops. As the tour moves on, the press is picking up the story and the crowds are growing! It's still not too late to get on the tour map. Contact Craig to see if he can fit you in. All we ask is that you bring a good size crowd if we can get your hosted stop on the tour. In some cases, Craig and Pam will make a significant diversion to make it to your stop. At $1 a mile, this gets very costly!

GOT BUS? Get on the 9-11 Patch Project Manhattan to Manhattan Tour BUS. Get your name, church, military unit, firefighter local, police officer local, business, or organization included in the FireCareers Bus SAFETY STRIPE of names. That’s right, we are starting to install our reflective stripe around the BUS. Our stripe will be multiple lines of inch and half reflective letters with names of those who donate $911.11 to the 9-11 Patch Project. Please show your support for these worthy organizations and make your donation today. Get on the BUS as soon as possible and show your support.

Thanks to all of you out there that are supporting this effort!

10 Yr 9/11 Original Firefighter Pin

A new item has been added to the 9/11 Patch Project online store. The pin pictured on the left, is a replica of the 10 Yr Original Patch and measures 1" X 1 1/4". 

These pins are made with a high end production process called Semi Cloisonné and not the photo etched or soft enamel pin that many offer out there. This is a very high quality and durable pin.

For those who are having a hard time getting the patch approved for your on duty uniform, this pin is a great alternative! With the 10 Year Anniversary of 9/11 only months away, now is a great time to get yours!

We will also be adding dog tags and key chains with this same design. Here is a sneak peek at the items:

Also, for those who have asked about T-Shirts, Hoodies, Mugs, Mouse Pads and other items, we have opened a store with Zazzle so that we can now supply them. Click the picture below to go to the store:

9/11 Patch Project Items

Channel 11 Covers 9/11 Patch Project tour stop in Jerome Idaho

Channel 11 news report of the FireCareers-9/11 Patch Project national tour stop in Jerome, ID, this past Saturday. Please support this national fund raising and 10 Yr 9/11 Awareness effort and pass this link on. Contact Craig Freeman if you want to host a tour stop. Click this link to get your patches and decals: Order 9/11 Patches & Decals

LA County FD Station 8 Chooses the 9/11 Apparatus Decal

Captain Eric Kuck, a former New Yorker, contacted me a few weeks ago and asked if we were going to make a larger image of the 9/11 Patch decal for apparatus. 

It just so happened that the company that wrapped the FireCareers.com bus for the 9/11 Anniversary Manhattan to Manhattan Tour, had the image as it was used to cover the front of the bus prior to the tour. The company stepped up and created this commercial grade decal for us in the 8.5" X 11" size. Once these were ready to go, I contacted Eric and we met at his station today. The decal was first put on their Squad on the driver side and there are plans to place the decals on all apparatus--including a right sided version which insures the stars of the flag are leading and the strips trailing.

It always takes at least one individual to lead the charge to get this done--especially in such a large department--so thank you Captain Kuck!

The decals along with other patches, decals and full size flags are available here: 9/11 Patches-Decals