little kid. and she said, man, eras tremendo. and that's not something good in spanish. and i want to thank my dad for raising vincent the way he did. and vince and i would frequent discuss who was most at fault. i said vince that was me. i was next in age. you helped raise me up in the neighborhood i should have been there. and he would tell me no alex, you have four daughters, that's on me. so we go back and forth. and you know we still have to work that out but he's out there with david right now. so he's out there. i just wrote something, and i'm going to read it directly but it definitely gives you a little bit from my brother in the beginning and it gives you a little bit to the end. one of the greatest things about san francisco is how it embraces and blends its different cultures, does it like no other city. our parents migrated from mexico to the perfect place, the city.

san francisco is a large city, but it works a small town feel with how we're all connected by our neighborhoods. you meet someone from the city, there's a bond. it takes just a few questions to find a connection. our neighborhoods are a great source of pride with us. it's part of who we are. since this incident i have spoken to some of vincent's closest childhood friends and we talked about vince's love for his neighborhood. it was located in burno heights but more specifically it was the corner of courtland and buchana at the corner in in front of the store. vince and his friends spent a lot of time there. clowning around, having fun and with their cars. vince worked hard to buy and restore one of the cleanest what we call bombas in the

city, a 1951 black and silver blue lincoln with the suicide doors. on some of his funnest nights vince would load the car with his friends and go to the mission for a cruise. i know whenever they were, his boys were always there for my brother and even my back. these guys had the closest bond with these guys. maybe that's the reason why when i heard the news, and i couldn't shake it. is that i wanted to be in that house with my brother. and i say that with all apologies to my four

daughters. some people may not understand that, others may but that's how i felt. the day after the incident. the next day, i awoke with the strongest pull to go to my brother's fire house. i needed to see who my brother went to war with. the first person to approach me was fireman willie casillas hi introduced himself and told me he was vincent's driver for 15 years. then i spoke and we introduced myself. i could see willie's mouth drop open. i knew exactly what he was thinking because all my life i heard how i look, act and talk exactly like my brother. i would hear that constantly growing up: we also think a lot a like. probably because i followed him around like a little puppy for so many years. casillas and i both looked at each other and immediately

broke down crying. the amount of pure love i sensed for my brother vince in that fire house was overwhelming. i knew right then no question, my brother went to battle with the best of the best. i wouldn't have had him with anyone else. i felt like my brother wanted me to know -- i didn't have to be in that house with them. there will be an investigation and everyone will want answers. and they will question decisions that had to be made in a split second under the most dangerous circumstances. they will want to know why this happened, let me tell you. i know my brother, and now i know engine 26, they had a great leader on that day. and i know engine 26 were properly trained and they were ready for that mission and although my brother had a

strong will, nothing is greater than the will of god. make no mistake, these men are gladiators, they fight fire. one of the most powerful forces created by god to save lives. to my brother, now you are free, i will see you again. but not yet, not yet. the san francisco interfaith council now has a short presentation on behalf of the many different religions of our city.

>> i'm reverend james jelang the share of the interfaith council. and standing with me are just a few of the representatives of the 800 congregations of the city and county. and we are here today including dr. amos brown to my right, reverend ronald caboda of the buddhist church of san francisco, rita simmel who is representing rabbi steven pierce from congregation emmanuel and our executive director michael papas and a member of our board father john calos who's the pastor of this cathedral. we are here to express our sympathy to the families of vincent perez and tony valerio and pray that you will be

comforted by the outpours of love and support by the thousands present here today. we are also here to honor these fallen men who gave these lives in public service. on behalf of the religious communities of san francisco. we want to express our thanks to the men and women of the fire department who protect our houses of warship, our religious schools, our homes for senior citizens, and our many social service centers throughout the city. we depend on you not only to save our buildings, but especially to save the people in them. be that a fire or when we suffer the earthquake that is sure to come. as first responders we want you to know that our congregation and social service agencies are partners with you in saving lives, housing the homeless, and feeding the hungry.

we join with all of you here today in expressing our grief. we honor the sacrifice of vincent perez and tony valerio and we join with you in the hope and prayer that those who still serve will never have to pay so dear a price for protecting us. thank you. as we move on to our firefighter honors we just want to take a moment thank arch bishop anior for being here and all of the staff of st. mary's

cathedral. doug bimbo, our organist and all who work so hard to allow us the hospitality of this cathedral for this funeral today. we're very thankful for the staff and for all of their work with us and for us. one of the most moving parts of a firefighters funeral is the presentation of their badge and helmet and then the last alarm. the nine bells that we ring. in the old days before electronic dispatch, firefighters were summoned by a series of alarm bells to various runs and nine bells was the chaplain's call. and we use that chaplain's call as our tribute to all of our firefighters who have died in thanksgiving for their service to this city and to all of us.

i would like to ask now chief joanne hayes white and accompanying her will be mayor lee and they will present the badges and helmets to the valerio and perez family.

assemblywoman jackie speier has a special presentation of a flag that flew over pearl harbor. we would ask all the servicemen who are present to please substantiate. we would please ask you to put your hats on. and captain storti will give

the chaplain's call for our fallen firefighter. [bells being rung ] i would like to ask you all to stand now as the archbishop leads us in the final prayers

of this funeral liturgy. >> before we go our separate ways let us take leave of our brothers. may our farewell express our affection for them. may it ease our sadness and strengthen our hope. one day we shall joyfully greet them again when the love of christ that conquers all thins destroys even death itself.

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♪ into your hands father of mercies, we commend our brothers vincent and anthony in the sure and certain hope that together with all who have died in christ, they will rise with him on the last day. we give you thanks for the

blessings which you bestowed upon vincent and anthony on this life. they are signs of your goodness. merciful lord, turn toward us and listen to our prayers. open the gates of paradise to your servants and help us who remain to comfort one another with assurances of faith until we all meet in christ and are with you and with our brothers forever. we ask this through christ our lord. >> amen. >> in peace, let us take our brothers to their place of rest.

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>> at this time we dismiss the uniformed members to reform in the plaza for the recessional. so may i ask all the uniforms members to leave the cathedral at this time. lieutenant vincent perez.. and >> welcome back, you have been watching special live coverage of the funerals for lieutenant vincent perez and firefighter anthony valerio. obviously a very emotional afternoon in san francisco. the eulogies were heartfelt, they were emotional. very meaningful, sometimes funny, but most often very

pointiant. >> it was a breath of fresh air to hear a realistic story like that that brings humor. because these people did a very serious job but very, very human as well. alex perez' brother, perez' brother was very well spoken. the oakland police officer. >> it was really from the heart. and that voice you would recognize as bill martin. i can imagine you look at this. >> this shows how much these two men were loved by the fire department. there's very touching moments. there's parts in the ceremony, the bell ringing.

>> tell us about that. >> it's symbolizing their last call. their last journey, the last call they're going to go on. and, i mean, i have to say in the fire service a lot of times we use humor and joking in the fire stations to get over some of the tragedies that we see. and you saw a little bit in the eulogies, the funny stories about them or what they did or how they made things go better at the scene. >> one of the sort of recurring things in the service today was the bond. that bond that firefighters share in this public service. that at any given moment you risk your life to go help the public. tell us a little bit about that bond. >> yeah, it's something. it's really hard to explain it to someone who isn't in the fire service or public safety.

it's a bonds that you get by working together. we're working together, we work and live together for 24 hours at a time. we have lives just like normal families do. you have the times when you're mad at somebody else, but then when that bell rings. and you go out to a fire or incident or medical emergency, it doesn't matter if you guys were feuding before you left, everybody works together as a team. and it draws them together and they can do their job to the up most. it's a bond that you never break. even after i'm now retired i still have a bond with the people i worked with. >> you will forever i'm sure. >> it isn't just the firefighters. when alex perez was talking about the oakland police department. he said the fire department

told them, tell your mom not to worry. we have her the whole way. it's police, everybody knows. >> back 20, 30 years ago it may not have been a close relationship. but now we rely on each other. they're there for them when they need assistance and and they're there for us. it's not as close as a firefighter bond but it's very close. >> we had the comments by chief hayes were really on the mark. she thanked everyone involved. she talked about how not only the san francisco fire department came together as a unit but fire departments all over the bay area have come in today and staffed the fire stations in san francisco so that the friends of both these fallen firefighters could attend this service. it's just amazing. >> she's a tremendous lady. a wonderful fire chief. you can see that she's really

committed to the, to the department itself as a whole. just the outpouring of support that they've had from the city and the city officials. the county that i work in in solano county we sent two engine trucks to cover stationings. we want to make sure that the people that worked for the san francisco fire department have the opportunity to go to this service. to say their final goodbyes. >> as we watched the procession now leaving the caskets leaving st. mary's cathedral. they will be now loaded back aboard the fire trucks, the fire engines then they will go down the peninsula, there's a rout that they will take. if you're driving around or planning to be in san francisco in the next hour or two, we ask your patience as this procession will move from st. mary's cathedral to holy cross cemetery and culma. so if you're any where around

the city or culma you will be seeing the procession. the rout will be down market street, right through the heart of the city through the mission district and out into interstate 280 southbound. and we want to let you know also that all the southbound lanes of interstate 280 will be shut down to santa monte boulevard till about 6:00 tonight as they move the coffins of the two firefighters out of the cathedral there to the fire engines coming outside. we're going to take a little bit of a break. we're going to stop talking here and just listen in as they make that transition.

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