By MARK O'BRIEN

ALBANY -- Two Capital Region firefighters are among the dozen names added to the New York State Fallen Firefighter's Memorial during a special ceremony Tuesday morning.  The annual event commemorates firefighters who have died in the line of duty.

"Their heroism is timeless.  Their sacrifice stands eternal," says Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez, New York's Secretary of State.  "We will never forget them."

David Meron, Sr. of the Hoosick Falls Volunteer Fire Department died in the line of duty on July 21, 2008.  He was 58 years old.  The previous day, Meron, a fire policeman, responded to an alarm for a possible transformer malfunction.  Once released from the fire, he returned to the fire station.  Upon returning from a different alarm, his colleagues found him unconscious and unresponsive in his vehicle at the entrance of the station.

Now 14 months later, Meron's family says they still struggle to cope with his death, but healing comes in small steps, especially from the firefighting community.

"Speak to any fire department anyplace, they're there to support you," says Linda Meron, his widow, with tears welling in her eyes.  "They have helped me through a lot."

Charles Walker, a firefighter for the City of Cohoes, died battling a fire in March 1877.  According to the Fireman's Association of the State of New York, that morning a fire broke out on the second floor of a box store on Mohawk Street.  Walker was among several firefighters trying to put out flames in the upper part of the building when the roof collapsed, taking floors all the way tot he cellar.  Everyone but Walker managed to escape.

"In 1877 we faced some of the same conditions that we have today," Vazquez says, "the issues of public safety, but also the safety and security of the firefighting force."  His funeral was attended by upwards of 5,000 people before his remains were escorted to the Albany cemetery, where he was buried.

As the bagpipes play and the bell tolls for each of the 12 men who died in the line of duty, it serves as a solemn reminder of the sacrifices firefighters make.

"Let us always remember to hold on to memory, to hold on to this moment, and to hold on to one another," says Rabbi Joseph Potasnik.  "We are of different faiths, but we are of one family."

To date there are 2,348 names engraved on the memorial wall at the Empire State Plaza.  The memorial was dedicated in 1998, and every year a ceremony honors fallen firefighters during Fire Prevention Week.  The earliest name on the wall is from 1811.