( CNN ) -- The 19 firefighters killed while battling an Arizona wildfire last month understood what few did , Vice President Joe Biden told thousands who attended their memorial Tuesday . They realized , he told a packed arena in Prescott Valley , that integrity `` is measured by whether you respond to the needs of your neighbors . '' `` ( Help ) came in the form of 20 Granite Mountain Hotshots who rushed toward the flames as everyone else retreated . And in the process , 19 of them gave their lives , '' Biden said . Opinion : When heroes face down fire -- and fate . `` These men were some of the strongest , most disciplined , tenacious , physically fit men in the world -- an elite unit in every sense of that phrase , '' Biden said . `` ... They raced to embrace life just like they raced ( to ) the fight against ... the raging fire on Yarnell Hill . '' Biden and other dignitaries -- including Gov . Jan Brewer and the state 's U.S. Sens . John McCain and Jeff Flake -- joined relatives and a grieving community for the memorial , which paid tribute to the 19 elite firefighters who were overcome by a raging inferno on June 30 . 100-mile procession for fallen firefighters . The 19 -- members of the Prescott Fire Department 's elite Granite Mountain Hotshots wildfire crew -- died while battling the Yarnell Hill fire , which consumed thousands of acres northwest of Phoenix . Officials have said it appears the 19 were forced to lie down under fire shelters , blankets meant to protect against flames and heat , as a last resort after the fire suddenly changed directions . The thousands who filled Tim 's Toyota Center west of Prescott gave a standing ovation to the unit 's only survivor , Brendan McDonough , as he was introduced . Officials said McDonough was the unit 's lookout away from the burn zone , and warned his crewmates by radio that the fire had changed direction . The fallen firefighters : who they were . After reciting a firefighters ' prayer , McDonough made a simple tribute to his comrades . `` I miss my brothers , '' he said , `` and we 're here to remember them . I love my family ... thank you for supporting me . '' The speakers were flanked by pictures of the 19 . Brewer said they were `` heroes , gone at the turn of the wind . '' `` They were protectors , defending our communities , safeguarding our friends , family and strangers alike , '' she said . `` To the Yarnell 19 , we will never forget your sacrifice and that of your families . '' Opinion : Why lasting compassion matters . Also speaking was Darrell Willis , the Prescott division fire chief who founded the hotshot group -- one of about 180 elite teams in the country that are called to fight wildfires up close and clear out the brush that otherwise would fuel it . Willis praised his fallen colleagues ' courage courage , professionalism and skill , telling the grieving relatives to `` take comfort in the fact that I would have followed them blindfolded in the very ( spot ) '' near Yarnell . `` They brought everything to the table . They gave their all . They were , in my words , right and tight , '' he said . The 19 firefighters were Andrew Ashcraft , 29 ; Robert Caldwell , 23 ; Travis Carter , 31 ; Dustin Deford , 24 ; Christopher MacKenzie , 30 ; Eric Marsh , 43 ; Grant McKee , 21 ; Sean Misner , 26 ; Scott Norris , 28 ; Wade Parker , 22 ; John Percin , 24 ; Anthony Rose , 23 ; Jesse Steed , 36 ; Joe Thurston , 32 ; Travis Turbyfill , 27 ; William Warneke , 25 ; Clayton Whitted , 28 ; Kevin Woyjeck , 21 ; and Garret Zuppiger , 27 . How you can help .
Hotshot team was `` an elite unit in every sense of that phrase , '' Vice President Anthony Rose says . 19 attend memorial for Thousands fallen members of a `` hotshot '' Phoenix firefighting team . Firefighters died in an Arizona wildfire 43 . Unit 's lone remaining member recites firefighters ' prayer , gets standing ovation .