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.
18 years? It doesn’t feel real. The last time I saw my Dad he was leaving for work the morning of 9/11. I usually wasn’t awake when he left for work but that morning I was. He hugged and kissed my Mom and I goodbye from the stoop and he walked to the gate then looked back at us and turned around hugged and kissed us goodbye again. We watched him get in his van and drive away. Later that day I was sitting in my classroom and all the kids around me were being called down to the office. I was wondering why then my name was called. (I thought I was going camping) when I got down the stairs I saw mothers packed in the hallway all the way to the office. I looked around for my Mom for a second then she grabbed me hysterical and pulled out of the school. We got in my Aunt Martha’s car and went down to her house. (she lived across the street from me) We were standing in her livingroom with my Oma and cousin Peter when I saw the replay of the wtc being hit for the first time. I gathered what was going on from everyone freaking out but I didn’t believe my Dad wasn’t coming home. That was the first time I got a panic attack. My Mom, Oma and I had to walk up and down the block bc we couldn’t breathe. People were in and out of my house all day. That night the neighborhood got together and we lit candles in the street outside of my house. After a while I was laying in my parents bed with my Oma when we heard a car pull up. We went to the window and it was a cop car (my Aunt Boog) my Mom ran to her and they hugged. She was a NYC cop at the time, she was there when the towers were hit but thankfully didn’t end up in the towers.There were people in and out of our house everyday for months. This kind hearted fireman would bring us food every single day. Everyday, a few times a day, my Mom and I would get down on our knees, lean on the ottoman, and beg God to bring my Dad home and for him to somehow find water to be able to survive. Never in my wildest dreams would I think my Dad would be killed by terrorists. I miss you more than words can say. 9/11 is the worst day of my life but I also live with it everyday. I hope the families find comfort today and I thank the people who searched for my Dado
My Dad was an everyday hard working hero from day one. I’m not sure how many of you know but I was actually born through in vitro fertilization. My parents had a hard time having a child. Back in the early 90’s my Dad took out a second mortgage in order to pay for the IVF and to turn our bungalow into a second story house, so he had a bigger home for a family. The first time my parents tried IVF it failed. My Dad took it very hard. He said that he wanted a daughter that looked like my Mom. He ended up having a daughter that looks exactly like him. My Mom said it turned out to be a blessing for her. My Dad had to give my mother needles a few times a day and he would tell her “this hurts me more than it hurts you”. One time he ended up hurting her with the needle and she started crying so that made him start to cry. My Mom recalls being at my Dad’s football games and at half time they’d have to go back to the parking lot so my Dad could give her needles in the truck.
When my parents got the phone call that they were pregnant with me, my Mom answered the phone with the doctor and she started crying and hung up. So my Dad started to cry because he thought it had failed again and my Mom said “no no it worked”. They were both thrilled and very thankful that their prayers had been answered. My Mom said that she had prayed after the first time it failed for God to please, even if she didn’t deserve a child, to give my husband the daughter he wants because he’s such a wonderful man.
After they found out they were pregnant with me, my Dad started working on the house to add the second floor on. As my Dad continued to work on the house it was a rush to get it done before I was born. They set a baby shower date for Mom which happened to be September 11th 1994. They left my gender as a surprise until I was born.
Mom was in labor on Thanksgiving and my Dad didn’t leave her side the entire time, aside from getting a quick change of clothes. My Dad, his mother in law, father in law, and sister in laws all had a quick Thanksgiving dinner on a trunk in their living room. They all headed back up to the hospital to be with Mom. My Dad was holding her hand when they came in and said they need to preform a c-section and asked my Dad to wash up and put on scrubs. They wheeled her in to put her under anesthesia. The next thing she remembers was my father wheeling her back to her room and he leaned over and said in her ear “we had a baby girl”. My mom said that was the happiest she’d ever seen my Dad now that he had his little girl he’s always wanted. My mom asked my Dad “what happens if we can’t have anymore children”? He replied “she’s perfect she’s all I need”. The guys my Dad had worked with at Rescue 1 said he would talk about me all day long. I would get on the phone with him at the firehouse and that just made his day.