Memorial to Three Binghamton Firefighters Erected

Nearly 42 years after they died, a memorial to three Binghamton Fire Department members is becoming a reality.

Three large pieces of granite bearing the names of fire chief John Cox, fire captain Donald McGeever and firefighter John Russell were put into place Wednesday in a park on the city's South Side.

Cox and McGeever drowned on September 29, 1975, a day after Russell died during a river rescue operation. Cox and McGeever had returned to the Susquehanna River in an effort to retrieve Russell's body.

The biggest piece of granite weighs 2,000 pounds. It is surrounded by two other stones weighing 1,600 pounds each. The stones bear the names of the fallen firefighters.

The memorial is located in Southside Veterans Park on Conklin Avenue, overlooking the river and the Rockbottom Dam.

A granite bench has been placed a few feet from the large stones. A six-foot-tall marker is in the center of the memorial.

The pieces of the memorial were brought to the park more than six months after a groundbreaking ceremony was held at the site.

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