Firefighter Thomas R. Kelly

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Thomas R. Kelly’s father and brother were also members of the FDNY. Kelly himself was an EMT before joining up.

With a public moniker of the “Dean Street Heroes,” Ladder 105 in Park Slope is known within the department as “West Point” because of how many of its members rise up through the ranks. Thomas Kelly was to be one of them. He was posthumously promoted to Lieutenant that December.

He had taken up bicycle riding with a passion in recent years. In 2000 he completed a 375-mile ride from New York to Boston for AIDS research. He had been planning a bicycle tour in France.
 Kelly and other members of Ladder 105 were last seen entering the South Tower shortly before it collapsed. Their remains have not yet been found.

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Capt. Vincent Brunton

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For Captain Vincent Brunton, 43, 1979 was an auspicious year. He got married, joined the FDNY and became a father for the first time.

Commissioner Von Essen said at Vinnie’s funeral that “only exceptional captains went back to lead the company from which they were promoted.” He was referring to Ladder 105.
 Brunton’s second job for decades was serving up beers at Farrell’s, the neighborhood tavern that serves as an informal town hall in Windsor Terrace. “He took the fire test, passed, went on the job, got married, had kids and kept working here all these years, even as he rose in the FDNY to lieutenant and then captain,” said one of Farrell’s co-owners. “He was always a perfect gentleman behind the bar. A sweeter guy you never met. Tough, funny, loyal, brave, honest. What could I say? I’d have trusted him with my life.”

Vinnie’s brother is an FDNY lieutenant and a piper in the Emerald Society Pipe and Drums Corps that played at his memorial. “Vinnie was a quiet guy who ran every day, kept in great physical shape, and rarely had an unkind word for anybody,” he said. “I will miss him every day of my life.”

 

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Firefighter Neil Leavy

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Neil Leavy, 34, graduated with a degree in finance and was a commodities trader in the World Trade Center for several years before he gave it up to join the FDNY. He had always wanted to be “where the action was.” With the department less than five years, Leavy had already received two citations for bravery.

Engine 217, one of the busiest firehouses in the city, arrived at the WTC at 9:40. Leavy’s last radio call placed him in Tower Two heading towards the stairwell.
 He was a “workout maniac” and a “strong, strong guy” according to his brother. His remains were found on Sunday night, the 16th.

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Firefighter Steven Coakley

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Steven Coakley, 36, had just finished his shift that morning when he jumped on the truck into Manhattan. Apparently he worked a lot of double shifts. It was his practice to work back-to-back as often as he could for the first half of the month so he could spend the second half of the month in his beach house and on his boat in Florida. Over the years, he had restored the boat to seaworthiness and expanded the bungalow into a two-story home with room for the ff buddies who would come to visit. He was planning to retire in 2005 to move to Florida full time. “41 and done” was the plan he had in mind.

Coakley began his firefighting career with the Wyandach Volunteer Fire Company in Babylon, Long Island, where his dad was a honorary member. A few years later he followed his grandfather’s example and joined the FDNY.
 His nickname around Engine 217 was “MacGyver” for his habit of fixing anything that broke.

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Lt. Kenneth Phelan

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When Lt. Kenneth Phelan, 41, was made Lieutenant in 2000, he asked to be assigned to Engine Company 217, the “Smokebusters,” in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, his father’s old house. Along with his brother, Phelan had first joined the NYPD in 1981 before being appointed to the FDNY in 1989. He was nicknamed “Shuffles” from the loud noises he made when he walked.

He and his wife met when they were both teenagers and neither ever dated anyone else. Their first date was to a Mets game. He left behind four children.

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B.C. Dennis Cross

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Now we move to Battalion 57 in Brooklyn. They lost 21 men.
 Battalion Chief Dennis Cross, 60, went from a 2-year tour in Vietnam into the FDNY in 1964. He was following a family tradition. His father had been an FDNY firefighter, as is his son. His nickname was “Captain Fearless.”

An incredibly experienced firefighter, Cross was assigned by the Commissioner to help draft new firefighter regulations. He was a mentor to new chiefs. 
Promoted to Battalion Chief in 1990, he was assigned to Battalion 57 in Bed-Stuy. He never put in for department chief because he wouldn’t have had as many chances to go into burning buildings any more, and he would have been one more step removed from the men. His favorite adage was “Take care of men and men will take care of you.” 
His wife was watching the day unfold on tv and when the towers came down, she knew he was gone too. He would always go into the fire as far as anyone. She considered it a “miracle” when his body was found in the rubble at the end of the first week.

 He rode in to the site with Captain Timothy Stackpole.

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Firefighter Stephen Siller

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Stephen Siller, 34, was orphaned at 10 and raised by his brothers & sisters. He joined the FDNY in 1995. On the morning of September 11th, he had just finished the late shift and was on his way to meet his three older brothers for a round of golf when he heard about the attack on his scanner. He drove back to Squad 1 instead and picked up his gear but he couldn’t get into Manhattan because the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel was closed by then. So he parked his truck and was last seen running through the tunnel, 60 pounds of gear strapped to his back.

Siller had five children aged 9 years to 9 months and 21 nieces and nephews. His wife wrote: “He lived life to the fullest. People meant everything to him.”
 His wife and siblings founded the “Tunnel to Towers Foundation” which hosts what has now become the largest 5k run in the world, retracing his run through the tunnel and ending up at Ground Zero. It takes place on the last Sunday in September. In 2013 there were 25,000 runners from around the world. To date the foundation has raised more than $35 million that is used for causes like scholarships and helping wounded soldiers.
 His remains have not been found.

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Firefighter Matthew Garvey

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Matthew Garvey enlisted with the Marines when he turned 18. He retired after 10 years as a sergeant and squad leader with the elite “2nd Anglico.” He had served in Beirut, Desert Storm and Desert Shield. A fellow marine wrote: “all we wanted to do was to be like him. At the end, if we were close, we were better Marines and better people.”

In 1995 he joined the FDNY, remaining an active Marine reservist. 
In September of 2001 he had just been accepted to law school.
 His awards include three Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, the Good Conduct Medal, the Southwest Asia Medal, the Reserve Medal, the Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia), the Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait), and the Navy Arctic Service Ribbon. He also earned the Navy/Marine Corps Parachutist Insignia (Gold Jump Wings) and was certified as a Jump Master. After 9/11, Garvey was posthumously awarded another Navy & Marine Corp medal by the Secretary of Navy.

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Firefighter David Fontana

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David Fontana, 37, died on his 8th wedding anniversary. He had just finished a 24-hour shift but raced to the WTC when he learned of the attack. His wife stepped up to a leadership role in the September 11th Widows and Families Association.

With a college degree in sculpture, Fontana was “intensely involved” with the Staten Island arts community, working several days a week in the studio. Every year he made elaborate Halloween costumes for himself and his 5-year-old son. This “man’s man” volunteered with the Boy Scouts and read to kids
. His skills and interests included tying knots, kayaking, yoga, history, Ireland, the ocean, hawks and rock climbing. His mother-in-law wrote that he was “one of the most talented and unpretentious people I have ever met.” 
Like many others, he received a posthumous promotion.

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Firefighter Robert Cordice

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Robert Cordice, 28, was “always on the move.” A New York City police officer from 1994 until he joined the FDNY in 1997, he had transferred into Squad 1 just two weeks before 9/11 because he “wanted to be in the thick of the smoke.”

Already chosen to be in the 2002 Fire Department calendar, his beefcake shot had him sitting on the famous Wall St. bronze bull in his bunker pants. One friend remembers Rob as “always having a smile on his face. He was a very outgoing person who liked to laugh, liked to have fun.

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