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by Eyewitness News' Carolina Tarazona
New York-WABC — For many it seemed as if the funerals for firefighters in the days after 9/11 would never come to an end. Well, today - nearly four years after that day - family and firefighters came together once again to remember Keithroy M. Maynard, whose family had not felt - until now - there were enough remains to hold a funeral.
Hundreds of uniformed firefighters gathered outside Manhattan's Church of the Master to bid a final farewell to a hero and a friend. Thirty-year-old Keithroy Maynard died on 9/11. This morning his casket, draped in red, white, and blue, carried the remains his family longed to bury for nearly four years.
Vernon Maynard, Keithroy's Brother: "It's an overwhelming sense of satisfaction knowing that we can come today and we have something, a peace that we can be thankful for.. It's in a resting place, in a safe resting place."
Keithroy Maynard was one of seven firefighters who died from Engine Company 33 on 9/11. He had been a firefighter for 2 years.
Even though Maynard died before his time, his brother Kevin decided to live on for him. He moved to Texas and became a firefighter.
Kevin Maynard, Keithroy's Brother: "It's been fun, I've enjoyed it, it's part of my healing and being a firefighter I wish I'd done it before."
After the funeral mass came an official salute - a sweeping helicopter and a flag, given to Keithroy's mother. For the fallen firefighter's family, this funeral was goodbye, a long awaited goodbye.
Vernon Maynard: "A lot of folks out there still waiting and wishing and hoping for these moments and I wish them well and I hope that one day their dreams will be fulfilled."
Many remains of 9/11 victims have not yet been buried. Maynard's family says perhaps their wait will inspire other 9/11 families to keep hope alive, so they too, one day, can find some sense of closure.
Another New York City firefighter who died on 9/11 was honored in the Bronx today. Firefighter John M. Collins worked at Ladder 25 in Manhattan but his home was the Bronx, and because he loved New York and loved the Bronx, his father said that naming a street in John's honor was a fitting tribute.
John had a motto, according to his mother and father, which was "live life to the fullest, but don't forget to help the next guy along the way."
His parents said being a firefighter was John's lifelong ambition.
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