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.