MANY GATHER IN SANTA CLARITA ON A DAY TO REMEMBER 9-11 MEMORIALS HONOR POLICE, FIREFIGHTERS, PARENTS.

Byline: JUDY O'ROURKE and PATRICIA FARRELL AIDEM Staff Writers

SANTA CLARITA -- Pint-sized patriots waved flags Monday to honor the police and firefighters who gathered on their Saugus playground to commemorate America's darkest moment.

Congregations gathered in prayer across the city, paying tribute to those killed by terrorists five years ago a continent away.

At Fire Station 126 in Valencia, firefighters, sheriff's deputies and other community members paid tribute to fallen first responders on the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In the wake of the assault, many local firefighters went to New York to help out.

Others in the crowd had lost friends or family members.

``I lost my uncle. He was a fireman,'' said Emily Lawler, 16, a member of the black-clad Saugus High School Concert Choir, whose renditions of ``The Star Spangled Banner'' and ``God Bless America'' stirred the crowd. Her uncle, Michael Lawler, 62, who had served with the New York Fire Department, was volunteering on ``that'' day.

``I feel sad because he was in my family, but I feel patriotic because I'm involved in this,'' Lawler said. ``I miss him.''

Choir member Jessica Luethi's phone call five years ago woke her cousin Evan Finch, who was attending New York University at the time. Finch's volleyball team volunteered at ground zero for about a week afterward.

Sheriff's Sgt. Richard Cohen grew up in New York and toured the massive World Trade Center complex with his brother, who worked as a building engineer there.

``I cannot believe the enormity of it,'' said Cohen, who as a kid watched the towers go up. ``I have pictures in my locker looking out (from the observation deck) at Brooklyn.''

His childhood friend, New York Firefighter Joseph Maffeo, perished in the collapse. Cohen attended a Yankee game when he returned to New York in October 2001 and said it ``was very touching, how baseball helped the city bind together.''

Backed by an oversized American flag, Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon and Santa Clarita Mayor Laurene Weste addressed the crowd, offering thoughts of remembrance and prayers for those lost five years ago and in the war that followed.

After a private service held by the firefighters, one shared how he traded one uniform for another.

``When I was watching TV, that was when I knew I needed to go over,'' said Brad Wolfenstein, 23, who has responded to three fires in his four months on duty. He enlisted in the Marines after high school and was deployed in Iraq for four years.

``I was supposed to go in November, but I bumped it up'' after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Wolfenstein said. He enlisted Sept. 17, 2001.

Battalion Chief Gary Burden said many firefighters from Station 126 have traveled to New York over the years on their own dime, helping to remove debris, performing routine duties at fire stations and shoring up family members at memorial services.

``Each person goes for their own private reasons,'' he said. ``It's a very tight brotherhood of firefighters.''

At Bouquet Canyon School in Saugus, nearly 600 pupils sat in silence as dozens of children introduced their parents -- the heroes of the day. Firefighters, sheriff's deputies and members of several police departments heard letters of gratitude from their children, who spoke from their parents' shadows behind a flag-draped podium.

``You are heroes.''

``When someone gets hurt, you help them. When someone has a gun, you get it.''

``Dad, you rock.''

``You are the best person. I love you so much.''

``I want to thank you for keeping our country safe.''

``You are brave. When you are at fires, I always miss you.''

Some kindergartners at Bouquet weren't even born when New York City's legendary twin towers toppled in ash. They are too young to understand about the heroes who responded to a passenger's order, ``Let's roll,'' and brought down their own plane before it could destroy another symbol of America. They don't get that the Pentagon, a symbol of this nation's might, was horribly scarred.

But they learned in this brief ceremony that firefighters and those in law enforcement are heroes. Crayoned posters showed the burning towers -- one with a firefighter atop his ladder, a smile on his face.

``We were listening to the radio, watching TV and staring mostly in disbelief at was was going on in New York City and Washington, D.C.,'' Principal Paul Martinsen told the crowd.

The children are taught about the events of Sept. 11, as history lessons, Martinsen said.

``Some of them weren't born yet and a lot of them are too young to remember, but we all know about George Washington even though he lived a long time ago. This is our history.''

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Photo:

(1 -- color) Sheriff's deputy Bill Eldridge gets a hug from his daughter Leah, 9, after she reads a tribute to him during a 9-11 memorial at Bouquet Canyon Elementary School on Monday.

(2 -- color) A sheriff's deputy holds a program for the 9-11 tribute at Bouquet Canyon Elementary School.

(3 -- 4 -- color) Above, Andrea Pesaresi, 5, left, and Sean Gennaro, 5, wave flags during a 9-11 tribute at Bouquet Canyon Elementary School. At right, students created posters that were posted around the school for the tribute.

(5 -- color) Teacher Cindy Claffey helps Filipe Figueira, 5, with the speech he will give to his parents, who are both police officers, during the 9-11 tribute at Bouquet Canyon Elementary School.

(6 -- color) The pledge of allegiance is said at the start of a Sept. 11 tribute at Bouquet Canyon Elementary School. Monday was the fifth anniversary of the attacks on New York City, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania. Firefighters, sheriff's deputies and members of several police departments heard letters of gratitude from their children.

David Crane/Staff Photographer