| Engine 16 Ladder 7 9-11-2001 "Our guys" |
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Battalion 49 John M. Moran, Battalion Chief
September 11, 2001 (Detailed to Special Operations Command)
Box 5-5-8087 World Trade Center
Firefighter with Law Degree
John Moran was a Fire Department Battalion Chief and his cousin Joseph Crowley was a
Congressman, but when they united thier voices that last Saturday afternoon at the block party
in the rockaways - well, "The Star of the County Down" never sounded sweeter.
At 42, chief Moran was a kayaking, tin-whistle-playing firefighter with a law degree, but he never
put himself before others. When his wife Kim was working out of town, he fed, bathed and
smothered with love their two children - Ryan 7 and Dylan 4 - all the while ensuring that Peggy
Moran, his mother who lived above him, never went wanting.
"When I saw his car outside, back home from work, that was a comfort to me," his mother said.
People may never forget the taunt that Michael, John's brother and fellow firefighter delivered to
Osama bin Laden during a nationally televised concert in October, a taunt so profane and yet
so eloquent, full of Irish anger and grief.
But Kim Moran will remember the late afternoon of Sunday, September 9, the day after the
block party and two days before the disaster that swallowed him. Trudging up from the beach
came her husband pulling his sons on the whelled contraption he had built for his kayak. His
wife grabbed a camera and caught it: John Moran in his glory. Chief Moran was assighned to
Battalion 49 and detailed to Special Operations Command.
Memorial Plaque at Special Operations Command
September 11, 2001 (Detailed to Special Operations Command)
Box 5-5-8087 World Trade Center
Firefighter with Law Degree
John Moran was a Fire Department Battalion Chief and his cousin Joseph Crowley was a
Congressman, but when they united thier voices that last Saturday afternoon at the block party
in the rockaways - well, "The Star of the County Down" never sounded sweeter.
At 42, chief Moran was a kayaking, tin-whistle-playing firefighter with a law degree, but he never
put himself before others. When his wife Kim was working out of town, he fed, bathed and
smothered with love their two children - Ryan 7 and Dylan 4 - all the while ensuring that Peggy
Moran, his mother who lived above him, never went wanting.
"When I saw his car outside, back home from work, that was a comfort to me," his mother said.
People may never forget the taunt that Michael, John's brother and fellow firefighter delivered to
Osama bin Laden during a nationally televised concert in October, a taunt so profane and yet
so eloquent, full of Irish anger and grief.
But Kim Moran will remember the late afternoon of Sunday, September 9, the day after the
block party and two days before the disaster that swallowed him. Trudging up from the beach
came her husband pulling his sons on the whelled contraption he had built for his kayak. His
wife grabbed a camera and caught it: John Moran in his glory. Chief Moran was assighned to
Battalion 49 and detailed to Special Operations Command.
Memorial Plaque at Special Operations Command
Ladder 7 Vernon A. Richard, Lieutenant
September 11, 2001 (Promoted to Captain 9/10/01)
Box 5-5-8087 World Trade Center
Roller Coasters and Choir
Vernon Richard, his wife, Dorothy recalled, "loved anything that had to do with roller coasters."
His daughter, Vernessa, a college student, recalled the same thing.
"When I'd come home for the summer, we'd go to Great Adventure," Vernessa Richard said,
"and he'd look up at the roller coaster and go 'Wow! Let's go on that!' The excitement on his
face!"
Lieutenant Richard was a 24-year veteran of the fire Department. A member of Ladder
Company 7 in Manhattan, he was to have been promoted to captain in November, an elevation
that occurred posthumously. A weight lifter and jogger (he ran six New York City Marathons),
he sang in the choir at the First Baptist Church in Spring Valley, N.Y. near his home in Nanuet.
His voice, a deep baritone, was memorable.
"When I played high school ball and there were maybe 500 people in the stands, I'd hear
nothing but his voice," said his son, Vernon. "He'd be saying, 'Go to work, Vernon.'"
He was appointed to the department on December 17, 1977. He was 53 years old. He was
posthumously promoted to Captain on 9/10/01.
Memorial Plaque at Ladder 7
September 11, 2001 (Promoted to Captain 9/10/01)
Box 5-5-8087 World Trade Center
Roller Coasters and Choir
Vernon Richard, his wife, Dorothy recalled, "loved anything that had to do with roller coasters."
His daughter, Vernessa, a college student, recalled the same thing.
"When I'd come home for the summer, we'd go to Great Adventure," Vernessa Richard said,
"and he'd look up at the roller coaster and go 'Wow! Let's go on that!' The excitement on his
face!"
Lieutenant Richard was a 24-year veteran of the fire Department. A member of Ladder
Company 7 in Manhattan, he was to have been promoted to captain in November, an elevation
that occurred posthumously. A weight lifter and jogger (he ran six New York City Marathons),
he sang in the choir at the First Baptist Church in Spring Valley, N.Y. near his home in Nanuet.
His voice, a deep baritone, was memorable.
"When I played high school ball and there were maybe 500 people in the stands, I'd hear
nothing but his voice," said his son, Vernon. "He'd be saying, 'Go to work, Vernon.'"
He was appointed to the department on December 17, 1977. He was 53 years old. He was
posthumously promoted to Captain on 9/10/01.
Memorial Plaque at Ladder 7
Battalion 32 Kenneth J. Phelan, Lieutenant
September 11, 2001 (Mutual to Engine 207)
Box 5-5-8087 World Trade Center
Kenny and Patty, Always
From an early age, Kenn Phelan looked out for other people. He took the children in the
neighborhood no one else wanted to coach and turned them into a basketball team.
"He said, 'Well now these kids have somewhere to play,'" said his younger brother, Lenard.
When the two of them became police officers in Manhattan, Kenny would drive by to see how
Lenny, on foot patrol, was doing.
Their father, a retired firefighter, was proud when his sons joined the fire department. Kenny
Phelan asked for his father's old firehouse, Engine Company 217 in Brooklyn when he was
promoted to lieutenant. Off duty, he led his four children ~ Kimberly, Erin, Danny and Kenny ~
on family outings to Walt Disney World and taught them sports. Now one of his sons plays third
base and is known as "The Vacuum." Nothing gets past him.
Lieutenant Phelan and his wife Patty, met as teenagers. Neither of them ever dated anyone
else and he was never without his wedding ring, which she still hopes will turn up. For their first
date, he asked her to a Mets have. On the way there she lost a contact lens. An old lady came
out of her house, found it and invited them in for Cokes. they made it to the game and the Mets
won. "I guess I won too," Mrs. Phelan said, "People looked at us and it was always Kenny and
Patty. I hope my children will have that and I hope whoever didn't have that will have it in the
future because life is empty without it."
He was appointed to the department on November 12, 1989. He was 41 years old. He was
assigned to Battalion 32 but was on mutual to Engine 207.
Memorial Plaque at Engine 217 and Ladder 7
September 11, 2001 (Mutual to Engine 207)
Box 5-5-8087 World Trade Center
Kenny and Patty, Always
From an early age, Kenn Phelan looked out for other people. He took the children in the
neighborhood no one else wanted to coach and turned them into a basketball team.
"He said, 'Well now these kids have somewhere to play,'" said his younger brother, Lenard.
When the two of them became police officers in Manhattan, Kenny would drive by to see how
Lenny, on foot patrol, was doing.
Their father, a retired firefighter, was proud when his sons joined the fire department. Kenny
Phelan asked for his father's old firehouse, Engine Company 217 in Brooklyn when he was
promoted to lieutenant. Off duty, he led his four children ~ Kimberly, Erin, Danny and Kenny ~
on family outings to Walt Disney World and taught them sports. Now one of his sons plays third
base and is known as "The Vacuum." Nothing gets past him.
Lieutenant Phelan and his wife Patty, met as teenagers. Neither of them ever dated anyone
else and he was never without his wedding ring, which she still hopes will turn up. For their first
date, he asked her to a Mets have. On the way there she lost a contact lens. An old lady came
out of her house, found it and invited them in for Cokes. they made it to the game and the Mets
won. "I guess I won too," Mrs. Phelan said, "People looked at us and it was always Kenny and
Patty. I hope my children will have that and I hope whoever didn't have that will have it in the
future because life is empty without it."
He was appointed to the department on November 12, 1989. He was 41 years old. He was
assigned to Battalion 32 but was on mutual to Engine 207.
Memorial Plaque at Engine 217 and Ladder 7
Ladder 7 Vincent A. Princiotta, Fireman
September 11, 2001
Box 5-5-8087 World Trade Center
The Essence of Cool
First there was the blue van with the surfboard strapped to the roof. Then there were the bright
Hawaiian shirts, the flowing hair, the perpetual tan. Soon there was no doubt: Vincent A.
Princiotta was cool.
Starting in the late 1970's, Mr. Princiotta, a firefighter with Ladder Company 7 in Manhattan, led
a band of surfers from their landlocked Bronxwood neighborhood into the big waves off Gilgo
Beach.
"I think he watched too much Don Ho," said Dave Breiner, a Connecticut firefighter who knew
him as Vinny Van. When he visited his sister Bernadette at college in Hawaii, her friends were
amazed, she said, that a non-Hawaiian, "this haoli from the Bronx," was so avel on the long
board.
Even as the years rolled by and he married the lovely Karen and became the adoring father of
Christina, now 16 months old, Firefighter Princiotta, who lived in Orangeburg, N.Y., maintained
his profile. He invested in phony winning lottery tickets, which he would distribute to his fellow
firefighters and watch while they shrieked and kissed the firehouse floor. But he also helped
the younger ones get familiar with firefighting tools, said Patty Boylan, a friend and colleague at
Ladder 7, and cooked heaps of Italian food for the entire company.
And he kept on surfing. "He was just super cool," Mr. Boylan said. "We called him the Vin Man."
He was appointed to the department on December 8, 1985. He was 39 years old.
Memorial Plaque at Ladder 7
September 11, 2001
Box 5-5-8087 World Trade Center
The Essence of Cool
First there was the blue van with the surfboard strapped to the roof. Then there were the bright
Hawaiian shirts, the flowing hair, the perpetual tan. Soon there was no doubt: Vincent A.
Princiotta was cool.
Starting in the late 1970's, Mr. Princiotta, a firefighter with Ladder Company 7 in Manhattan, led
a band of surfers from their landlocked Bronxwood neighborhood into the big waves off Gilgo
Beach.
"I think he watched too much Don Ho," said Dave Breiner, a Connecticut firefighter who knew
him as Vinny Van. When he visited his sister Bernadette at college in Hawaii, her friends were
amazed, she said, that a non-Hawaiian, "this haoli from the Bronx," was so avel on the long
board.
Even as the years rolled by and he married the lovely Karen and became the adoring father of
Christina, now 16 months old, Firefighter Princiotta, who lived in Orangeburg, N.Y., maintained
his profile. He invested in phony winning lottery tickets, which he would distribute to his fellow
firefighters and watch while they shrieked and kissed the firehouse floor. But he also helped
the younger ones get familiar with firefighting tools, said Patty Boylan, a friend and colleague at
Ladder 7, and cooked heaps of Italian food for the entire company.
And he kept on surfing. "He was just super cool," Mr. Boylan said. "We called him the Vin Man."
He was appointed to the department on December 8, 1985. He was 39 years old.
Memorial Plaque at Ladder 7
Box 5-5-8087 World Trade Center
Lessons of Helpfulness
To know Robert Foti, meet his children: Alycia 13, Robert, Jr. 12 and James 5. This winter
Robert, Jr. walked down a snowy mountain twice to retrieve a stranger's snowboard. When
Alycia was 11, she spent the holidays with her stepmother's family and cheerfully helped out in
the kitchen. James, little James, is obsessed with the twin towers that claimed the live of his
father.
For a while Engine 16 and Ladder 7 displayed a snapshot of James and his father that was
hard to forget. The "Santa Clause picture," Firefighter Foti's wife, Mary Grace, calls it. She saw
them in the Bathtub with soapsuds beards like Santas. She ran to get the camera.
"You can't take our picture," Firefighter Foti protested, laughing. He was chewing a cigar and
had his arm around James. "But it's so cute," Mrs. Foti said, snapping the picture.
Now James says, "My daddy died in the twin tower," to everyone he meets. "He would go on all
the field trips with the mothers. It was his nature to help others, which explains why he became
a fireman."
He was appointed to the department on July 5, 1988. He was 43 years old.
Memorial Plaque at Ladder 7
Lessons of Helpfulness
To know Robert Foti, meet his children: Alycia 13, Robert, Jr. 12 and James 5. This winter
Robert, Jr. walked down a snowy mountain twice to retrieve a stranger's snowboard. When
Alycia was 11, she spent the holidays with her stepmother's family and cheerfully helped out in
the kitchen. James, little James, is obsessed with the twin towers that claimed the live of his
father.
For a while Engine 16 and Ladder 7 displayed a snapshot of James and his father that was
hard to forget. The "Santa Clause picture," Firefighter Foti's wife, Mary Grace, calls it. She saw
them in the Bathtub with soapsuds beards like Santas. She ran to get the camera.
"You can't take our picture," Firefighter Foti protested, laughing. He was chewing a cigar and
had his arm around James. "But it's so cute," Mrs. Foti said, snapping the picture.
Now James says, "My daddy died in the twin tower," to everyone he meets. "He would go on all
the field trips with the mothers. It was his nature to help others, which explains why he became
a fireman."
He was appointed to the department on July 5, 1988. He was 43 years old.
Memorial Plaque at Ladder 7