Blog | Better Angels

Firefighter Mark Whitford

Posted on August 29, 2014 by Dawn Siebel

Firefighter Mark Whitford, 31, had twin one-year-old sons. A 1998 graduate of the Fire Academy, Whitford drove the rig for Engine 23. He was born to the job. A natural athlete, he especially excelled at wrestling and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Courage by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, along with Chief Ray Downey. Whitford loved the outdoors and the family had moved from Staten Island to be closer to his beloved Bear Mountain up the Hudson river. One of his favorite spots was Anthony’s Nose, the lookout knob atop the mountain.

Posted in Better Angels Stories | Tagged 343, 9/11, Battalion Nine, better angels, Dawn Siebel, Engine Co. 23, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, LODD, Manhattan, Mark Whitford, memorial, NFFF, paintings, portraits, World Trade Center, WTC | Leave a comment

Firefighter Hector Tirado Jr.

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Dawn Siebel

Being a firefighter was the favorite of three jobs for Hector Tirado, Jr. He also worked as a waiter and sometimes as a model. He came to the responsibilities of caring for others early. His own parents died when he was still a teenager and he assumed the care and legal guardianship of his three younger siblings. At 30, he had five children who lived in Ohio with his ex. He visited them every month and every summer they came to New York to be with him. As to all his hard work, he told his uncle, “As long as it’s legitimate and I make money for my children, I don’t care.”

Posted in Better Angels Stories | Tagged 343, 9/11, Battalion Nine, better angels, Dawn Siebel, Engine Co. 23, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, Hector Tirado Jr., LODD, Manhattan, memorial, NFFF, paintings, portraits, World Trade Center, WTC | 1 Comment

Firefighter James Pappageorge

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Dawn Siebel

James Nicholas Pappageorge, 29, came into the FDNY through its EMS Division which he joined in 1995, getting his paramedic degree in 1999. By 2001 he was called up to the FDNY and graduated from the Academy on July 23rd. He was assigned to Engine 23 at 215 W. 58th St, just south of Central Park. Pappageorge had planned to marry his longtime fiance in September of 2002.

Posted in Better Angels Stories | Tagged 343, 9/11, Battalion Nine, better angels, Dawn Siebel, Engine Co. 23, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, James Pappageorge, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, NFFF, paintings, portraits, World Trade Center, WTC | Leave a comment

Firefighter Robert McPadden

Posted on August 26, 2014 by Dawn Siebel

Robert McPadden, 30, was so good at Jeopardy that others thought they must be watching reruns he had already seen when he shouted out answer after answer. He completed a Masters degree in Criminal Justice while waiting to be called up to the FDNY, following his father – a 40 year veteran – into the department. As the new member of Engine 23, he would introduce himself as Fireman Bob when he led classes of school kids around the station. He and his wife were scheduled to move into their new home on September 12th.

Posted in Better Angels Stories | Tagged 343, 9/11, Battalion Nine, better angels, Dawn Siebel, Engine Co. 23, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, NFFF, paintings, portraits, Robert McPadden, World Trade Center, WTC | Leave a comment

Firefighter John Marshall

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Dawn Siebel

“A big man with a big heart,” is how Firefighter John Daniel Marshall was described by his friend Lou at his memorial service. Regularly assigned to Ladder 27 in the Bronx, Marshall was on rotation with Engine 23 on 9/11. He will be the first of five men from that house to be listed here. John Marshall left behind a wife and two children under five.

Posted in Better Angels Stories | Tagged 343, 9/11, Battalion Nine, better angels, Dawn Siebel, Engine Co. 23, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, John Marshall, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, NFFF, paintings, portraits, World Trade Center, WTC | 1 Comment

Firefighter John Tipping II

Posted on August 24, 2014 by Dawn Siebel

John Tipping II, 33, eventually followed his retired firefighter father into the FDNY, but not before he spent several years focusing more on skiing and snowboarding than on any career. That last winter, he also got his father back onto skis as they ran the Vermont slopes together. His mother wrote that “he was a carpenter, a cook and a ladies’ man.” He spent six years with Ladder 4.

Posted in Better Angels Stories | Tagged 343, 9/11, Battalion Nine, better angels, Dawn Siebel, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters of 9/11, John Tipping, Ladder Co. 4, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, NFFF, paintings, portraits, World Trade Center, WTC | 1 Comment

Firefighter Samuel Oitice

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Dawn Siebel

Firefighter Samuel Oitice, 45, was a lifelong resident of Peekskill, NY, north of NYC along the Hudson River. He served there as a police officer for 4 years before joining the FDNY in 1992. He remained a volunteer firefighter in his hometown and took on the responsibility of teaching fire safety year-round to school children and at senior centers. With this wife, he set up a kids’ roller hockey league for teams throughout the Hudson Valley. After 9/11, Peekskill built a memorial honoring Oitice and other first responders on the banks of the river.

Posted in Better Angels Stories | Tagged 343, 9/11, Battalion Nine, better angels, Dawn Siebel, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, Ladder Co. 4, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, NFFF, paintings, portraits, Samuel Oitice, World Trade Center, WTC | Leave a comment

Firefighter Michael F. Lynch

Posted on August 22, 2014 by Dawn Siebel

Michael Francis Lynch, 33, was a big man at 6’5″. Posthumously promoted to Lieutenant, this 230# firefighter like to play toy dinosaurs with his oldest son. On 9/11 he was seen by Tim Brown (of “The Bravest”) wrestling a “Jaws of Life” Hurst tool free from Ladder 4 to take in to rescue people trapped in an elevator in the lobby of WTC2. The elevator had fallen from the 78th floor and been stopped by its safety features above the lobby floor. Because it wasn’t level with the floor it’s automatic locks were engaged and the door was open only about 8 inches and only one person had been able to slip through. Fire beneath the elevator was intensifying. The Jaws of Life were to be used in the rescue.

Posted in Better Angels Stories | Tagged 343, 9/11, Battalion Nine, better angels, Dawn Siebel, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, Ladder 4, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, Michael Lynch, NFFF, paintings, portraits, World Trade Center, WTC | Leave a comment

Firefighter Michael Haub

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Dawn Siebel

September 11, 2001, was the first time 15-month-old Kiersten said “Dada,” pointing to the picture of her father, Firefighter Michael Haub. His family was all around her in the living room, tensely watching the TV.  Michael Haub had only been with the FDNY since 1999, but he was a 13-year firefighting veteran (and Captain) with the Roslyn Highlands Fire Department on Long Island. An only child, he loved the camaraderie and friendships in the firehouse and cooked up sauerkraut and goulash in the firehouse kitchen.

Posted in Better Angels Stories | Tagged 343, 9/11, Battalion Nine, better angels, Dawn Siebel, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, Ladder Co. 4, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, Michael Haub, NFFF, paintings, portraits, World Trade Center, WTC | Leave a comment

Firefighter Michael E. Brennan

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Dawn Siebel

Michael Emmett Brennan, 27, was known simply as Mikey B. Born into a large Irish Catholic family in Queens, Mikey B was the prankster of the family. As a child, his favorite TV show was CHiPs, so no one was surprised when he became a firefighter at 21. He started his career with Engine 54, then got rotated out to a year in Queens, then a year in Brooklyn. But he always wanted to go back to the “Pride of Midtown,” which he did, switching over to Ladder 4. He was studying to take his Lieutenant’s exam that October.

Posted in Better Angels Stories | Tagged 343, 9/11, Battalion Nine, better angels, Dawn Siebel, FDNY, firefighter, firefighters, firefighters of 9/11, Ladder Co. 4, LODD, Manhattan, memorial, Michael E. Brennan, NFFF, paintings, portraits, World Trade Center, WTC | 1 Comment