John p Sullivan, damien van cleaf and captain dennis tardio fdny 9/11
Parents who died on 9/11 are remembered by their children.
They have a lot of ground to cover.
In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, 65 FDNY members lost their first responder fathers or watched them die from ailments induced by poisonous smoke and debris at Ground Zero.
Their dads' courage and sacrifice inspired these young Bravest, including three women.
Sons and daughters of firemen and police officers slain in the line of duty, said FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro, "it just demonstrates their bravery and determination to confront those obstacles." Several of the children were just 5 or 6 years old when the attacks of September 11, 2001, took place.
While explaining why they couldn't resist the siren call of the FDNY, many of them sat for a portrait twenty years after the tragedy.
While working in the same place as your dad and wearing his badge number, many people feel that they have a guardian angel looking out for them.
They tell their stories here.
He has a tattoo of his father, Leonard Ragaglia, on his left arm, which depicts what he shared with him and what his father lost on 9/11 when he was 7.
"The toy car he pushed me around in," he says of the puzzle pieces that fit his father's photo. Fragmented images depict Anthony's eighth birthday, basketball and weightlifting competitions, and high school and college graduations.
The 27-year-old remembers him as a "really nice family man." It was waiting for him to come home from work and jumping on him when he got in that I remember the most.
A former athlete, Anthony decided to become a firefighter after graduating from Mount Saint Mary College in order to "make his dad happy."
He stated he didn't hesitate when faced with the likelihood of another life-threatening event, such as 9/11. "I placed it on the back burner. This is due to the inherent hazards of the job."
He has no regrets about his decision to join Engine 217 in Brooklyn. Everything you do as a team, everyone is like a family to me."
After graduating from the NYPD academy in September 2019, Leonard Ragaglia, Jr., Anthony's 30-year-old brother, began his career as an NYPD officer. Amid the chaos of 9/11, Leonard is assigned to Engine 54 in Midtown, which lost 15 firefighters – more than any other firehouse in the city.
For any child, spending the day in a firehouse, riding on a fire engine with lights and sirens, then sharing a meal with the firemen in their loud mess hall would be a dream come true! A young John Bergin did exactly the same thing.
The badge was carried down and thrust into President Bush's hand by Howard, who is now 38 years old. For the rest of his presidency, he carried the badge with him at all times
Once-Rep. Peter King (R-NY) used to call him out and ask, “Where's the badge?” Howard retorted. "And he always carried it with him."
On exhibit at Bush Presidential Library in Dallas, Texas, is George Howard's badge. George Howard's son works on Ladder 157 in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
As Chris pondered, "I'm quite sure that's why he became an ESU police officer." As a result, I hope he's smiling and looking down at me.
In the aftermath of his death, Emmet Meehan, 30, admitted to being in a "strange state of mind." "I didn't know where I was going. It was the Fire Department that provided me with the support I needed.
As a result of his 9/11 rescue attempts, Meehan's father, Lt. Edward Meehan, was diagnosed with cancer.
Every day for the last two or three months, Meehan recalled, "I was with him." The two of us had always been close, but when you're facing death, everything you've been keeping back is thrown out the window. As a result, it's a memory I treasure.
Just six months after his diagnosis, Edward Meehan passed away in February 2018, just as his son's test results were being graded. "He had no notion that I was going to join the department." I had no idea," Meehan explained.
Meehan keeps a prayer card from his father's burial in his helmet when he works at Ladder 34 in Washington Heights. The card features a photo of Ed from his days as a rookie and another with his favorite Engine 45 vehicle.
When asked why he was keeping him with him, he replied,
It's possible that he is proud of us. As Chris Wieber put it "No matter what we did, he would have been proud."
Although he may be pleased that his brother and I followed in his footsteps and become firefighters, Erik remarked.
While working at the World Trade Center, Robert Wieber, a firefighter at Engine 262 in Astoria in Queens, contracted an extremely rare form of brain cancer called non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The man died in 2006 at the age of 50.
A few more years with him, Chris claimed, was "unfortunate." It did, however, take its toll.
Now 33-year-old Chris had a clear vision of his future career as a firefighter, but his two-year-old brother Erik took a different path.
It wasn't working well for Erik when he was doing accounting. For me, the desire to change came from my father, who was passionate about what he did.
Their paths crossed in the Fire Academy, and in 2014 they both became firemen. Erin and Chris both work in Brownsville, but Erik is assigned to Ladder 113 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
"Now we know why dad was so happy to go to work every day," Chris remarked.