We remember those who were lost on 9/11/2001
I’m specifically remembering Tamitha Freemen and Brian Hickey today among the 2,996 who were murdered by al-queda terrorists on 9-11-2001.
Tamitha Freemen
Though I remembered Tamitha in 2006 for the 2996 Project -now gone with the rest of my archives- there was never much information available. ¹We know that she was relatively new to her job at Aon Corporation and she worked in the World Trade Center, Tower 2, 86th floor. ²She also had a large, loving family and many wonderful friends. Tamitha is with me almost every day; her name is so etched into my memory that it comes to mind when I think about and pray for my loved one, so she’s become family for me and I remember her, today and always.
Captain Brian Hickey
³There’s much more information available about Captain Hickey. An Air Force vet, he had been with the New York City Fire Department for 20 years. At the time of his death Brian was Battalion Chief of Rescue 4.
Brian married his high school sweetheart and had four children: Danny, Dennis, Jaclyn and Kevin.
He was laid to rest on June 11, 2002. Below is the story of why.
Sweat of His Heroism Helps ID Lost Captain
By
MICHELE McPHEEAll that is left of Fire Capt. Brian Hickey is the sweat of his brow.
Funeral for Fire Capt. Brian Hickey will be held June 11.
But for his wife, Donna Hickey, that is enough.As recovery work at Ground Zero nears the end, survivors of World Trade Center victims have prayed that any small remnant of their loved ones would be recovered for a proper burial.
For eight months, Donna Hickey waited for something — anything — of her husband’s to be carried out of the rubble.
Last week, her husband’s colleagues presented her with his white captain’s helmet.
The crushed hat, caked with soot and dirt, was found months ago alongside tools from Rescue 3, which Hickey commanded Sept. 11. His perspiration and a few strands of his thinning brown hair found inside the helmet finally provided enough DNA for the city medical examiner to determine in recent days that he was wearing it when he died.
When found, the helmet bore the scars of countless fires, including the Queens explosion last Father’s Day that killed three firefighters and severely injured Hickey. It also was festooned with faded green shamrock stickers — a nod to his Irish heritage.
When Hickey left the Bronx headquarters of Rescue 3 on Sept. 11, the Mass cards of the three men killed last June were tucked under a leather strap inside the helmet, along with a photograph of his family.
The Mass cards and picture were lost, but the lining of Hickey’s helmet was stained with the sweat of leading his men up the flaming south tower of the World Trade Center.
“You keep praying, ‘Anything, anything — give me anything,’” Donna Hickey said. “God gave me this.”
Hickey is grateful she has his helmet, which is the heart of any firefighter. She plans to put it in his coffin for a funeral Mass on June 11, the day her husband would have turned 48.
“The helmet is the fireman. It’s been through every fire,” she said. “When you bury the helmet, you bury the man.”
Filling In
Brian Hickey, a 20-year FDNY veteran, was commander of Rescue 4 for three years, but on Sept. 11, he was filling in for a Rescue 3 captain who was off that day.
That morning, a “10-60″ — major emergency signal — sent the men of Rescue 3 hurtling to the World Trade Center minutes after a plane hit the north tower. When they arrived, the south tower also was in flames, and the company rushed inside to join the rescue efforts, carrying equipment used in major catastrophes.
None of the eight men in the company survived.
In the days after the collapse, other rescue company firefighters searched the pile that was the south tower, the final resting place for Hickey and his men.
The firefighters began to dig and have not stopped since, even as the pile was flattened and debris carted away.
Eventually, workers uncovered an area containing Rescue 3 gear, including charred firefighting tools marked “R3″ as well as Hickey’s helmet.
Fire Department officials believe the company had been in the stairwell of the building on a high floor and died together when the tower came down.“I never doubted for a moment that Brian would be anywhere but high up in the tower,” said his father, Ray Hickey, who dealt with his grief by creating a stained-glass door for his son’s firehouse, with the names of every fallen Rescue 4 firefighter memorialized in rich hues.
“I’m glad his guys brought him home.”
Wrapped in the Flag
Rescue 4 Firefighter Liam Flaherty — an FDNY bagpiper who, when not at funerals for his fallen brothers, has spent the past eight months at Ground Zero — said his company would not have been able to rest until it found the captain.
On a cold winter’s morning at 4 a.m. so many months ago, Flaherty gingerly wrapped Hickey’s battered helmet in a U.S. flag and carried it out. Deep down, though, he had been hoping for more.
“It’s tough to face the families and say, ‘We are not going to recover everybody.’ It hurts,” Flaherty said.
NBC’s Today Show granted Captain Hickey’s son Kevin a wish. This is a very special video.
Additional information: New York Times
September 11th, 2009 at 9:23 am
This being Obamas first annivsary in office for 9/11 and he isn’t even going to go to ground zero? And he is only going to visit the Pentagon memorial, not even go to any services
Fucking asshole, tells you exactly what he thinks of 9/11
September 11th, 2009 at 9:28 am
You’re kidding, right? RIGHT??
September 11th, 2009 at 9:56 am
He sent Joe Biden to Ground Zero today.
Guess attending memorial services is below his pay grade.
September 11th, 2009 at 10:02 am
Zero sent the leering monkey brained dipshit to Ground Zero? Lovely. Just lovely.
September 15th, 2009 at 8:13 am
I sucks he did not go. He is as bad as the people who cause 9/11 therefore he did not deserve to be there in my opinion.
September 11th, 2009 at 9:32 am
Regarding the post: Amen.
And next year, I’ll be signed up in ample time for my 2996
September 11th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Next year. But you wrote a great post about 9/11, Joanie.
September 11th, 2009 at 10:40 am
Wonderful tributes – and that video… I had to come clean to a co-worker who looked at me, then did a double-take and said, “you okay?”
“No, not really. Just remembering 9/11 with some friends online,” I replied.
Thanks, Pam.
September 11th, 2009 at 11:12 am
Thanks, Bitterroot.
September 11th, 2009 at 10:48 am
That video was heartbreaking.
And I wish I knew of that tribute link beforehand. Even though it’s really late I signed up, just in case I can still contribute even on the last day.
September 11th, 2009 at 11:12 am
Way to go, Dave! It’s never too late!
September 11th, 2009 at 11:03 am
I don’t have a blog so I can’t participate in 2996…
But what I have done today is post a picture of Rick Rescorla outside my office…
One of the great warriors and heroes of our time, everyone should know his story…
davek
September 11th, 2009 at 11:13 am
To my way of thinking, that *is* participating, Dave!
September 11th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Yep The One went to NYC the other day for the Walter Cronkite memorial, but just a few minutes at the Pentagon is all he can spare.
Dave just visit and doing a thumbs is perfect for me!
September 11th, 2009 at 11:50 am
The man makes me sick. He can jet over to the Walter Cronkite memorial but Ground Zero is too far…? Or is he afraid of pissing off his friends?
September 11th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Just posted my memorial to one of the 9/11 victims. Thanks for your inspiration.
September 11th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Awesome tribute, Dave!!!
September 11th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
Amen and God bless them.
September 11th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
September 11th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
That was a special video! Wow!
My husband said El Pres. all but said we provoked it…at least that’s what he heard listening to him on the radio.
September 11th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
I didn’t hear any of it, but it sounds like him.
September 12th, 2009 at 10:34 am
It’s bad for my blood pressure but this clown in Washington, and all his lefty cohorts are doing their damnedest to pull our national pants down and bend the nation over with our bare national butt pointing toward Iran and Saudi Arabia and the rest of that lunatic crowd.
All I can do is sit here and curse. I can’t kick the dogs, I’m not like that. I’m not allowed to burn Washington, DC and every fancypants university to the ground. So, I sit here and wonder where the next blow will fall. I wonder will it be one of Pakistan’s nukes or Iran’s? And I want to scream. Don’t those big city libs know that THEY are the targets?
God help us, the government won’t.
September 12th, 2009 at 11:14 am
Amen!
September 13th, 2009 at 9:17 am
These are wonderful tributes. Thanks for sharing.