9/11 Ten Year Anniversary

Thursday, March 10, 2011

East Northport To Get WTC Steel Beam For 9/11 Memorial

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – One Long Island community is expected to have a very special addition to its annual September 11th memorial and vigil this year.

The East Northport Fire Department will be receiving an 8 foot, 7,000 pound steel World Trade Center beam on Thursday.

Firefighters, the NYPD and police from Nassau and Suffolk counties will transport the beam from John F. Kennedy Airport to the fire department headquarters on Larkfield Road and Ninth Avenue.

East Northport Fire Department Lieutenant Frank Giovinco spoke with 1010 WINS Wednesday and said the goal was to have a design made for the monument and put it on display for the community’s commemoration of the terrorist attacks.

“Hopefully by the 10th anniversary, this monument will be unveiled at our memorial ceremony on September 11th of this year,” Giovinco said.

In a news release, the fire department also said the beam would serve as a reminder of the 3,000 people killed “during the greatest attack on American soil – something that we should never forget

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/03/09/east-northport-to-get-wtc-steel-beam-for-911-memorial/

Australia's prime minister brings fire helmet of 9/11 hero Kevin Dowdell to Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON - Australia's prime minister visited Capitol Hill on Wednesday and offered "a precious possession" - the tale of a fire helmet that proves the enduring legacy of 9/11's heroes.

It was a helmet signed by FDNY Lt. Kevin Dowdell in 1998 and given to Australians on a counterterror training trip in New York.

Three years later, terrorists killed Dowdell, of Rescue 4 in Queens.

The helmet came home last summer, after a Queensland firefighter, Robert Frey, found it on display. He realized what it would mean to Dowdell's 26-year-old son, James, now of Ladder 174 in East Flatbush.

"Rob came to America to give James the helmet his father signed - a precious possession, a last link to a father lost," Prime Minister Julia Gillard said.

"And I give you their story - a precious possession, too," she said, turning to the gallery where both men sat Wednesday.

"Rob, James. Good on you," she said, winning a massive ovation from Congress.

Dowdell was overwhelmed. "I'm thinking, it's an honor, but what's a fireman like me doing sitting here?" he told the Daily News.

But that wasn't even the best part of his day. Dowdell's brother, Army Capt. Patrick Dowdell, of the first West Point class after 9/11, returned from Afghanistan on Wednesday.

James rushed from Congress to catch a plane to Fort Collins, Colo.

"To be doing that and then leave to get on a flight to see my brother - it's just a good day all around," Dowdell said.

Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Queens/Bronx) spoke at Kevin Dowdell's funeral. For him, the tale of the helmet showed how much 9/11 mattered to the world.

"That helmet obviously was held as close as you can get to a religious article," he said.

Best of all for James will be having his brother home a decade after the terror attacks. "We're looking especially to the 10-year anniversary," Dowdell said. "We haven't been together on 9/11 in years, and we'll have him around the whole summer.

"It's gonna be good."

mmcauliff@nydailynews.com

Monday, March 7, 2011

NEW VIDEO RELEASE:WTC Attack September 11, 2001 from New York Police Helicopter

click youtube link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w465MHsvYpg

Sunday, March 6, 2011

9/11 Memorial: Mariposa meets Manhattan in remembrance

MARIPOSA -- A group of four New York City firefighters visited Yosemite National Park shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, and ended up forging a lasting bond with some Mariposa County firefighters.

The New Yorkers somehow got lost, wound up in Mariposa instead of the park and were found by Mariposa's deputy fire chief, Art Laursen. He escorted the men to the Mariposa headquarters and introduced them to Deputy Chief Dan Michael and Fire Chief Blaine Shultz.

Comrades from opposite sides of a nation in grief became instant friends.

Long story short, the FDNY firefighters were given complimentary hotel rooms at the park, accommodating an extended visit, and the Mariposa firefighters were treated to VIP seats in Madison Square Garden the next year at the first anniversary ceremony of 9/11.

Naturally, when the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey recently announced its decision to allow pieces of the World Trade Center's twin towers to be given to communities, law enforcement agencies, fire departments and nonprofit groups as artifacts of 9/11, Jim Wilson, now the fire chief of Mariposa County, immediately sent his request.

On Feb. 17, four 116-pound boxes arrived at Wilson's office.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

9/11 firefighter dies of cancer linked to toxic dust

New York (CNN) -- Firefighter Randy Wiebicke who, like so many New York City firefighters, toiled in and around ground zero in the months after 9/11, died Wednesday following a nearly three-year battle with multiple myeloma, an aggressive and fatal blood cancer.

Wiebicke underwent an experimental stem cell transplant procedure last summer, when his cancer was in remission. But just two months after the transplant, he developed viral infections that, ultimately, his weakening body could no longer fight.

Wiebicke's wife, Madeline, said Randy was "a man who lived his life in the spirit of what being a firefighter meant to him. When others were in danger, running out of a burning building, he was there to run in," she wrote in an e-mail. "He lived his life beautifully, in a way that inspired everyone around him. Having Randy around not only made you want to be a better person, but it showed you how to get there," she wrote.

Hundreds of firefighters and other ground zero workers have died of cancer in the years following the attack on the World Trade Center, according to New York state health officials. So far, however, doctors have been reluctant to link those cancers to 9/11, saying that most cancers take longer than nine years to develop.

But a 2009 study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine suggested a link between the type of cancer Wiebicke had and exposure to the toxic dust at ground zero. "We found a predominance of multiple myeloma in younger folks than we would have expected," said Dr. Jacqueline Moline, the study's author.

Moline is the former director of the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program at Mount Sinai Hospital. She said doctors monitoring the health of first responders are paying close attention to blood cancers, since they usually develop in a shorter time frame than other cancers.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/03/02/new.york.firefighter/

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

World Trade Center steel for new 9/11 memorial in Acton

Acton, Mass. —

The Acton 9/11 Memorial Committee is on track to unveil a new monument in front of the Public Safety Facility marking the 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The monument will use structural steel from the World Trade Center towers, donated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jerseyexclusively for use in monuments.

According to Jon Stackhouse of the Acton Police Department, the committee will pick up its 10-foot piece of steel March 10.

“We’re really excited that we have a date to pick up our steel,” he said.

Two Acton residents were killed in the 9/11 attacks: Philip Rosenzweig and Amy Sweeney, who were both on American Airlines Flight 11. A memorial already exists in Acton Center, but the new monument is intended to honor those killed as well as public safety personnel.

The 9/11 Memorial Committee, as well as Sweeney’s husband, Mike Sweeney, will travel to New York City to pick up the steel and visit the World Trade Center tribute site.

The committee, made of Acton firefighters and police officers, originally estimated the cost of the memorial at $20,000. But as the committee raised money during the past year, new estimates place the cost at $25,000, leaving the committee $3,000 short of its goal. Stackhouse said the money was raised through events, including a popular comedy show and sales of engraved bricks through the buy-a-brick program, which is still running.

Stackhouse said the committee hoped to have a small ceremony March 10 when the truck returns to Acton to unveil the steel. Details of the timing are not yet available.

9/11 Memorial to be Built at DOVER AFB

DOVER, Del.- Thousands of Americans lost their lives as a result of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The attacks sent shockwaves across the country and around the world. Now, firefighters at the Dover Air Force Base want to honor those who perished that day with a new memorial.

Plans call for the new memorial to be built outside the Air Force Base Fire Department. The Eagle Firefighters Association, which is not affiliated with the Air Force, said it will use two large pieces of steel from the World Trade Center as part of the memorial.

Blueprints call for pentagon shaped granite to be used in the memorial. The fire department also hopes to include dirt from the site where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania.

Fire Capt. Aaron Weisenberger said, "For emergency responders, that day will always play an important role. But, especially with this memorial, it's designed to commemorate everybody- not just emergency responders- but the civilians and the military who still sacrifice every day right now."

Firefighters are hoping to raise about $20,000 to pay for project. Firefighters hope to unveil the memorial on Sept. 11 of this year.

Donations to the project can be sent to: The Eagle Firefighters Association, P.O. Box 2107 Dover AFB, DE 19902. You may also purchase personalized bricks that will be used in the memorial by calling (302) 677-4420.

http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=14164517