Gerard Nevins, 46, spent 18 years with the FDNY, gathering quite a collection of medals and citations along the way. But when he went home to his wife and two young boys in Campbell Hall, NY, he was a gentleman farmer. There he raised chickens, pigs, goats and rabbits. He sold fresh eggs to his neighbors. With Rescue 1 since 1995, he frowned on ever ordering take-out, much preferring the firefighter tradition of cooking feasts for one another.
Michael Montessi got his first fire helmet at age 5. He spent 15 years as a volunteer firefighter on Long Island before finally getting called up by the FDNY in 1988. He was very handy, inventive and mechanical. He made a small air pack that could be worn on the face of someone who was trapped. Rescue 1 carries this piece of equipment today. Speaking of his three young sons, this proud father declared to his wife: “This is what it’s all about.” They had just sold their home at the beginning of August and started to build their dream home. By September 11, only the foundation had been poured.
Kenneth Marino’s wife and two little kids (3 and 1) visited him at Rescue 1 early on the morning of September 11. They left just before the call came in. Kenny Marino, 40, had been a firefighter for 20 years and with the FDNY for 10. Although he was a Mets fan, his favorite ballplayer was Ken Griffey, Jr. Marino’s wife sent an email to Griffey, asking him to hit a homerun for Kenny, saying “he’d be looking down with a big grin.” In Griffey’s 2nd at bat on September 25th, he did just that. The bat is now in the proud possession of Marino’s wife and two kids.
Firefighter William Henry, 49, had spent two decades in the department. For many years he was assigned to Ladder 24 before moving over to Rescue 1. Nicknamed “Buddy,” he loved to use his vacations for travel – often to places like Brazil. He apparently used his free time to help others too, either at the local soup kitchen or by fixing up homes. His contractor skills were often used solving electrical problems while on rescues. Henry was found intact on the Friday following 9/11, along with other members of Rescue 1. He was in the ruins of a stairwell, his 6′ metal hook bent to the shape of the ruined stairs.
Gary Geidel, 44, was working as much overtime as he could. He was just two weeks from retiring after a 20-year career with the FDNY. Even so, by the time he arrived at Rescue 1 for his overtime day shift, he had missed the truck so he raced downtown on his own to join the men he had worked with for the last 11 years in the biggest rescue of their careers.
Geidel went from high school into the Marines, then followed family tradition when he became a firefighter. His father was a retired Rescue 1 Lieutenant. Two brothers also joined the FDNY. He was days away from leaving Tottenville, Staten Island, the town where he was born, and moving with his wife and daughter to their new home in Greenville, up the Hudson River.
John F. Kennedy was president when Joseph Angelini Sr became a firefighter. The oldest active duty member of the FDNY was 63, had almost 40 years on the job, and never ever ever wanted to retire. On 9/11, temporarily assigned to light duty away from Rescue 1, he answered the call anyway, riding down with Special Ops Command from Roosevelt Island. Angelini was a tough and determined man on the job who believed in always carrying all the tools and bunker gear he needed, no matter how many flights of stairs were ahead. So it’s ironic he arrived at the WTC without his own gear. He borrowed a helmet from Ten House and was last seen helping people trapped in the Winter Garden by the first collapse. He jumped out of his car and into a lake once to rescue a boy he had just seen fall through the ice. He stepped across the aisle in church to start CPR to save a parishioner having a heart attack. As a game, he would hide the teddy bear from his grandkids so they could find it by flashlight, then practice their own CPR skills on teddy. Angelini’s oldest son and namesake was also a firefighter who died at the WTC.
Lt. Dennis Mojica has one of the biggest smiles of any of the 343 in his official photograph. This 50-year-old was a 29-year FDNY veteran. He came to the department after six years in the Navy. Engaged to be married just nine months earlier, his fiance said that firefighting for him was “his dream, his life, and his first love.” He hid the engagement ring inside the dessert she was served at her favorite restaurant. “For an old guy, I’m still trying to be romantic.”
| Captain Terence Hatton was already a legend at the age of 41. This tall 20-year FDNY vet had received almost a medal or citation for every year of service. When he married, Mayor Guiliani officiated. His bride was the Mayor’s executive assistant. At his funeral, the Mayor delivered the eulogy. Rescue 1 is a legendary company within the FDNY, averaging about 10 calls a day – astronomical for almost any other department anywhere. Yet somehow, Hatton also managed to take his team into buildings around Manhattan when there was no fire – just so they would know the buildings and be able to respond better – like knowing about the sub-basement dressing rooms for some of the Broadway theaters. Maybe this is partly why his nickname around the firehouse was Man-Hattan.Rescue 1 was dispatched early on 9/11 and Captain Hatton led his team up the stairs of Tower One before the second plane hit. Just before they began that ascent, he ran into his best friend Tim Brown in the lobby. They hugged, & kissed each other on the cheek. Hatton told Tim “I love you brother. This might be the last time I see you.” What Hatton didn’t know, and I’m not sure his wife even knew yet, was that there was another Terry Hatton in the making due to come into the world the next May. Boy or girl, the baby would be named Terry. |
The final member of Ladder 35 to list is one of the two Michael Edward Roberts who were FDNY firefighters to die that day. Ladder 35’s Michael Roberts was taken by his fire captain father and placed in the seat of a rig when he was just four. That was all it took. He never wanted to be anything but a firefighter from then on. It took 24 years, but Roberts joined the FDNY in 1998, having earned a degree in psychology from SUNY/Buffalo in the meantime. His nickname around the station was The Psychologist and he was sought out for his ability to listen.